Mick Fanning's gruesome injury (right) and how he would have been forced to see the world had it been any closer to his eyeball. Photo: Instagram
Mick Fanning's gruesome injury (right) and how he would have been forced to see the world had it been any closer to his eyeball. Photo: Instagram

Beloved surf champion Mick Fanning nearly loses eyeball as Tropical Cyclone Alfred barrels down on Australia

"This is not the opportunity for curiosity."

Now, anyone who knows anything about this surfing life has had eyes glued to wild video clips coming out of Australia’s east coast. Tropical Cyclone Alfred, due to make possible landfall in mere hours, would be the first to hit south of Brisbane since 1974. As a rare Category 2, it could pack quite the punch with extremely high winds, scary flooding, etc. Queensland premier David Crisafulli warned, “There is a chance this cyclone will cross in the middle of the night with a high tide. That is not the time to be making your evacuation plan, now is the time.”

But.

Very dreamy waves just right ahead of that aforementioned time. The sort of perfect racing right-hand barrels that have lit imaginations since Australia’s Kirra, Superbank, etc. became a thing.

Beloved surf champion and savvy businessman Mick Fanning joined a who’s who of local talent in wrangling the dreamy perfection seen here.

Kirra 4/3/25 Cyclone Alfred

And here.

Pumping Kirra | "It's a f#$ken swell event" - Korbin Hutchings

But things almost went horribly wrong for the three-time number one. Fanning appeared to suffer a gruesome injury that nearly popped an eyeball from its very socket.

Downplaying the severity, the platinum blonde simply shared, “Couple of stitches to go with a couple tubes. Good to go again haha.”

Well, Alfred is on schedule to kiss the Lucky Country as Thursday turns to Friday.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner would like you to know that “This is not the opportunity for curiosity.”

Sensible.

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