Mick Fanning is now back on the water after surviving a terrifying shark attack while competing in the J-Bay Open surf competition in South Africa on Monday.
The pro surfer posted a dramatic portrait on Instagram on Friday in which he returns to the surf, solo, board in hand.
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First surf back. Feels so good. Surfed by myself but had Andy in my thoughts. Happy Birthday brother #AIforever A photo posted by Mick Fanning (@mfanno) on Jul 24, 2015 at 2:55pm PDT
In the photo caption, Fanning also wrote some special birthday love dedicated to surfing legend Andy Irons with the hashgat #AIforever. The only surfer to have won a title at every venue on the Association of Surfing Professionals calendar, Irons died tragically of cardiac arrest in 2010.
On Monday, Fanning fought off a shark that he encountered during the competition, and was fortunate enough to escape with just a small depression in his surf board and a bitten-through leash.
Shark at #JBayOpen. Thankfully, Mick Fanning is unharmed. https://t.co/Y20L1PpTMD— #VansUSOpen (@wsl) July 19, 2015
Mick Fanning attacked by a shark in @wsl #JBayOpen final. Thank god he is okay, scary stuff !! pic.twitter.com/CXkCiZFdhZ— Luke Marlow (@MarlowLuke) July 19, 2015
Upon realizing what happened, Fanning's fellow surfer and competitor, Julian Wilson, paddled towards Fanning on his board, without thinking, trying to save him.
"It was pretty spooky ... I literally thought, paddling for him, I wasn't gonna get there in time," Wilson recounted, in an interview with Fox Sports. "I thought: 'I have a board, a weapon, and if I just get there I can just stab it.'"
Before he could stab the shark, however, Fanning had punched it in the head and escaped. Both men split the prize money and points for first place in the competition.
At the time, Fanning wasn't too keen to get back into competition after escaping with his life -- "Man, I'm happy to not even compete ever again. To walk away from that, I'm just so stoked," he said in a post-match interview.
But you can't keep a surfer away from the shore. He's now bravely stepping back into his old comfort zone.