She'd already lost one son and the torment of watching helplessly as another come so close to death by a huge shark was almost too much to bear for Mick Fanning's mother.
Elizabeth Osborne was at home on Sunday night watching TV coverage of three-time world surfing champion Fanning's J-Bay Open final at South Africa's Jeffreys Bay, when a big shark fin surfaced close behind him and the predator came at him.
She was beside herself in her living room when Fanning was dragged from his board as the shark severed his leg rope while he tried to paddle away.
Her agony was compounded when a wave hid Fanning as he lashed out, struggling to escape, leaving spectators shrieking from the beach and shocked commentators at a loss to explain what was happening in the live broadcast, with one blurting out "Oh s***".
"I just stood up and ran over to the television and really felt like I wanted to pull him out of the television," Osborne told the ABC through tears.
"I was so scared. I just thought when that wave came through that he'd gone."
Osborne's thoughts turned to her late son Sean, who died 17 years ago when Fanning was 16.
"When Sean was killed in the car accident, I didn't see it. I saw this just in front of me. It was just terrible," she said.
Once those harrowingly few seconds passed and she saw her boy emerge and be quickly picked up by water patrol crews without a scratch, she believed the elder son had been watching over his little brother.
"That's my Sean. Absolutely."
Fanning was understandably "tripping out" over the ordeal.
"I was just sitting there and I felt something grab or get stuck in my leg rope and I instantly just jumped away," Fanning said.
"It just kept coming at my board and I was kicking and screaming.
"I just saw fins, I didn't see any teeth. I was waiting for the teeth to come at me as I was swimming.
"I punched it in the back."
A shaken Mick Fanning has said he'd be happy to never compete again after the incident.
Aquarist Marty Garwood speaks to Ellie Laing about the shark encounter:
Fanning was facing fellow Australian Julian Wilson in the event's final when he was forced to fight off the shark.
Competition was subsequently halted, with both Fanning and Wilson to receive second-place points and share the prizemoney for first and second.
The 34-year-old escaped without a scratch, but dramatic video footage showed just how close the incident could have been to a tragedy.
The shark's fin is seen approaching Fanning, then the surfer being knocked from his board.
"I was about to start paddling again and I had this instinct that someone was behind me".
"I was about to start paddling again and I had this instinct that someone was behind me," Fanning said.
"I saw the whole thing just thrashing around ... I punched it a couple of times, but I felt like it was dragging me under water.
"Then all of a sudden my leg rope broke and I was swimming and screaming."
"Then all of a sudden my leg rope broke and I was swimming and screaming."
Exclusive interview with Mick Fanning following the #JBayOpen shark attack. Posted by World Surf League on Sunday, 19 July 2015
Water patrol crews sped towards Fanning as he frantically swam for the shore.
"I was swimming in and I had this thought "what if comes for another go at me", so I turned around, so I could at least see it, and before I knew it the boat was there, the jetskis were there. I just can't believe it.
Fanning is locked in a world title battle with Wilson, but competition was the bottom of his priority list following the incident.
"I'm happy to not even compete ever again. Seriously, to walk away from that, I'm just so stoked."
Wilson, who paddled towards Fanning when he saw the attack, was also emotional afterwards, saying through tears that he felt like he couldn't get to Fanning quick enough.
"It came up and he was wrestling it, and I saw he got knocked off his board," Wilson said.
"I was like 'I've got a board, if I can get there I can stab it or whatever, I've got a weapon'."
Wilson's mother Nola, like Fanning's mum, was watching from her home on NSW's Sunshine Coast and said the 26-year-old's actions were what she would expect.
"The skis and the boats hadn't got to Mick and Julian had the shark squarely set in his sights," she said.
"Your mind's going to be thinking 'that's my mate'."
Members of the surfing community expressed relief that Mick Fanning was able to emerge from the incident unscathed.
Shark would have been hard to spot earlier: Aquarist
Senior aquarist at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium Marty Garwood said the visibility in the water and the behaviour of Great White sharks would have made spotting the shark earlier difficult.
"It's not typical for Great Whites to be swimming at the surface with their dorsal fin out, like you see in [the film] 'Jaws' - that is quite unusual."
He also praised the way Mick Fanning handled the encounter when he punched the shark to escape.
"It just gives him a bit more time. The shark steps back for a second so it is just trying to reassess the situation. It gave him [Mick Fanning] more time."
Marty Garwood said the J-Bay area has had incidents in the past with Great White Sharks, but said the the occurence is rare and should not provoke panic.
"It's important to remember that Great Whites are critically endangered throughout the world's oceans, so as much as this is a fearful and scary situation, it is good to remember they're an important part of the ecosystem."
