iStockphoto / RugliG
A man from Perth, Australia suffered a freak accident while surfing in Indonesia and he was lucky he didn’t lose his eyesight.
Steven Kezic was on holiday at a surf school in the Mentawai Islands when something hit him in the face. He thought it was his friends playing a prank and throwing seaweed at this face.
It wasn’t until the surfing instructor paddled over and said “you better stop, you’ve got a fish in your face” that he realized the gravity of the situation. A foot-long Robust Garfish had impaled him through the nose and was sticking out of his face.
Quick warning: the news report below of Steven being impaled by the fish shows his injury. Be aware of that before clicking ‘play’ on the YouTube video.
The carpenter from Perth was left stunned when the 1-foot Robust Garfish impaled him, snapped off its sword, and left it sticking through his nose.
Kezic told 9 News:
“I can’t believe I have a fish in my face and I’ve looked down and I’ve seen all the blood. I felt the slap of the fish and I could see a little bit through my nose. It was realistically no pain at the time, I felt the pain when I was on the boat ride and I didn’t feel well after that. 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.”
The surf school’s medical staffer hopped into action. He said “Personally I’ve never had anyone rock up to my emergency department with a fish stuck in their face.” He went on to describe how the wound went in one side and out the other side of the nose and it took 45 minutes to remove the fish’s sword and get Steven stitched up.
It’s worth noting that even when Australians get off their island the natural world is still out to get them. This man left Australia, home to countless deadly creatures, and got impaled during surf school vacation. Nature has it out for Aussies.