Mick Fanning: A born fighter

BY anyone’s standard, this year has been hell for Mick Fanning. How has he kept going, enduring blows that would have buckled a weaker person?

(FILES) A file photo taken on July 21, 2015 shows Australian surf champion Mick Fanning recounting his close encounter with a shark at a press conference in Sydney on July 21, 2015, after he flew in from South Africa. Fanning is on December 17, 2015, dealing with the sudden death of his brother while challenging for a fourth world title, capping a traumatic year in which he survived a shark attack. The 34-year-old is competing at the title-deciding Pipe Masters in Hawaii, the climax of a gruelling global season with Fanning in contention to be crowned world champion alongside Brazilians Adriano de Souza and Gabriel Medina. AFP PHOTO / FILES / Peter PARKS

EVEN half of the year that Mick Fanning has had should buckled him, let alone the late night call he received the night before heading into battle for a fourth world title yesterday.

The death of Fanning’s older brother Peter was the latest in a year of emotional beatings.

According to a leading performance psychologist he had two choices today — hit the brakes or push harder.

Time and time again the 34-year-old Coolangatta kid has shown he can bounce back, no matter what the universe throws at him.

Mick Fanning shortly before being attacked by a shark during the final of the JBay Surf Open in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa.

“What is Mick’s alternative?” psychologist Dr Phil Jauncey asked.

“It’s like riding a pushbike and getting the wobbles when you get hit — sometimes the best thing to do is keep pedalling,” he said.

Fanning started this year with an early win at the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach for a fourth time but the rollercoaster really kicked off in the final of the J-Bay Pro in South Africa.

To everyone’s horror Fanning had to fight off a great white shark.

He punched the shark twice and was left floating alone in the ocean for a few seconds that must have felt like an eternity, before being picked up on a jetski.

Mick Fanning winning his round 1 heat at the Billabong Pipe Masters at Pipeline.

Stunned to be alive, Fanning eyed the chunk taken out of his surfboard leg rope and spoke to the cameras which had broadcast the incident live to the world.

With the whole world chasing a piece of him, all he wanted to do was come home to the Gold Coast and after fighting off his demons, he was soon back in the water.

“He has done the best he could for himself because he didn’t stay off his board for very long after the shark attack or following the death of his brother,” Dr Jauncey said.

“The last thing he would have felt like doing is going out and surfing well yesterday but the alternative would have been staying home and doing nothing.”

Mick Fanning during round 2 of the Australian Open of Surfing at Manly Beach. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Dr Jauncey said Fanning had the ability to control what he had power over and put the rest aside when he needed to.

“He would have thought that nothing could have stopped the shark attack or bring his brother back from the dead — he just controls what he can — and that is what he did yesterday,” he said.

“Now he will try and honour his brother.

“It is inspiring seeing people who are hurting like hell and whether he loses or not, he will surf the best he can.”

Still struggling with his own inner demons following the attack, Fanning donated $75,000 from a 60 Minutes interview to Ballina shark attack victim Mat Lee.

Then he was back in competition mode at the Billabong Pro Tahiti, one of the most feared waves in the world.

After being knocked out of the event early, Fanning decided to tow surf waves the size of three storey buildings at Shipsterns Bluff in Tasmania.

Fanning won his next event at the Hurley Trestles Pro to lead the world title race as his mother Elizabeth Osbourne watched on from the beach.

Mick Fanning celebrates after winning the Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal.

Back on the top of the surfing world, Fanning admitted he still struggled with psychological scars.

“I guess when something like this happens, you’re in your own mind and your mind can play tricks on you,” Fanning said.

“Your mind can turn shadows into demons, or stuff like that.”

He then appeared as the first male on the cover of women’s magazine, Elle Australia.

Fanning also took a 16-year-old cancer patient surfing at Coolangatta for the Starlight Foundation in November.

Mick Fanning and his wife Karissa Dalton at the GQ Man of the Year awards. Photo: Craig Greenhill

The next day he was given the Sportsman of The Year Award at the GQ Men Of The Year Awards in Sydney.

Arriving on Hawaii to focus on a fourth world title, he set to work surfing as much as possible until he saw an unconscious body in the water at Pipeline.

US pro surfer Evan Geiselman was knocked out and was being held out of the water by bodyboarder Andre Botha on December 7.

Fanning did not hesitate when he saw the man in trouble and threw down his board ran to help out.