Mick Fanning donates $75k appearance fee to shark attack victim

Mick Fanning fought off a shark at the start of the 2015 J-Bay Open final. Have you heard? And after the entire world lost its collective mind over the scariest 30 seconds that Mick will ever endure, after he’d climbed onto the ski and “reset,” after he’d let it sink in, Mick flew back to Australia. He and Julian Wilson landed at Sydney Airport before driving to Alexandria, where the lone press conference they’d requested would take place. Australia’s fourth estate could exhaust their questions, and then Mick and Jules could go home and stop thinking and talking about what had happened in South Africa. At least, for a little while.

But, Mick had made one other commitment. He’d chosen 60 Minutes as the media house with whom he’d share his exclusive story, focused visually around his first surf back, at Hastings Point on NSW’s North Coast.

Amazingly, while Mick was in the water, he spotted a shark. “I saw some fins out there,” he said. “I saw a shark.” A less ideal thing to happen first surf back is hard to imagine. But Mick, further proving that he might just be the world’s least shakable surfer, relocated to another beach and kept surfing. But that ain’t the real kicker.

Part of the piece would see Mick stop off at the hospital where Matt Lee is being treated, after being attacked by a 12-foot great white last month at North Wall in Ballina. Both legs were bitten, and after emergency surgeries, he’s been in an induced coma. The day Mick was to visit, Matt had to undergo further surgeries, so the visit never took place.

But in what you can call a showing of Mick’s character, the world champ donated his $75k 60 Minutes appearance fee to Lee’s recovery fund.

Channel Nine boss David Gyngell added another $25k. Thanks from Matt’s camp was simple but heartfelt: “Mick Fanning and David Gyngell, no words can describe how grateful we are for the generous donation.”

As if you could have any more posi feels for the man who wins multiple world titles, wrestles a shark and then actively avoids exploiting his situation… he then donates $75 to a shark attack victim.