A man was left with a hole in his face after a nearly foot-long fish impaled him with its beak.
Steven Kezic was surfing in Indonesian waters around the Mentawai Islands, Sumatra when a 30cm long garfish launched itself from the sea and embedded itself in his nose.
He was nearly left blind as the pointed appendage passed through his nasal cartilage and narrowly missed his eye.
Speaking to 9News, Mr Kezic, from Perth, Australia, said he initially suspected his friends were playing a trick on him.
He said he thought they were flinging seaweed at him and “having a prank”, but quickly realised they were staring intently at something on his face.
The instructor of the surfing school said he had “better stop” as there was a “fish in your face”.
The interaction prompted him to look down at his nose, and he noticed blood dripping from his face.
He said: “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.”
Mr Kezic said he felt “really lucky” as he was within inches of losing his eyesight. He said if the fish was “a fraction higher” its beak “would have taken my eyes out”.
Fortunately for the carpenter, one of his fellow learners, Kyle Kophamel, was a trained doctor.
Mr Kophamel quickly improvised a surgical table on dry land and removed the beak, which had broken off the fish after it punctured his nose.
He operated for 45 minutes and stitched up Mr Kezic’s face, finding it had clearly passed through the cartilage and skin.
Speaking to Perth Now, he said: “I’ve always had a sense of humour, so I can’t help but not make a joke about it now! But I was incredibly lucky for Kyle. He saved me from a world of trouble.”
