Aussie surfer impaled by fish in bizarre freak accident
The rare incident comes as the unassuming fish shot out of the water as the man was surfing. Find out what happened.
A surfer's unimaginable run-in with a small but mighty fish has left him "feeling lucky" he didn't lose his eyesight.
Perth man Steven Kezic was surfing with a group of people off the Mentawai Islands in Sumatra when he suddenly felt a sharp "slap" on his face.
Innocently thinking some of his mates were playfully throwing seaweed at him, he soon realised that wasn't the case when everyone started "looking at [him] really intently", 9News reports.
Turns out a 30-centimetre garfish had shot out of the water and pierced the carpenter's nose, with its needle-like beak breaking off inside his nostril.
"I can't believe I have a fish in my face and I've looked down and I've seen all the blood," he told the publication of the rare incident. "It was really lucky I didn't lose my eyesight, because I just turned and the garfish came right across. If it was a fraction higher it would have taken my eyes out."
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It was also lucky that one of his fellow surfers was a doctor, who operated for 45 minutes on the man to remove the large beak of the schooling fish and stitch up the wound that "literally entered one side of his nose and come out the other".
"Personally I've never had anyone rock up to my emergency department with a fish stuck in their face," Kyle Kophamel told the publication.
In Australia, there are 18 species of garfish, with the Eastern Sea Garfish found along the eastern coast of the country, from southern Queensland to eastern Victoria, according to the Australian Museum.
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