Steve Kezic on the way back to the mainland to have the fish removed from his face.
Apparently it’s not just the whales that are out to get us in the open ocean. The aquatic rebellion has spread to fish as well. During a trip to the Playground Surf Resort in the Mentawai Islands, Steve Kezic was sitting on his board when a garfish flew out of the water and impaled him in the face, as 9News Perth and Perth Now report.
Kezic, a carpenter from Perth, was participating in a surf school with eight other students when he felt something slap him in the face. “I thought one of the boys were having a bit of a prank and throwing seaweed at me,” Kezic told 9News Perth. “I’ve looked around, and everyone’s looking at me like really intently. One of the coaches came up to me and said ‘you better stop, you’ve got a fish in your face.’”
The needle-like beak of the fish went through his nose and broke off, leaving Kezic with a bleeding wound. As Perth Now reports, the surfing coach, alongside other group members, helped Kezic onto a speedboat to get him back to shore as quickly as possible. However, after making the 15-minute trip back to the resort, the group found themselves unsure of where to find the nearest hospital. Fortunately, they discovered that another member of the group, Dr. Kyle Kophamel, was an emergency doctor. Kophamel set up an impromptu surgery station at the resort, where he removed the fish and stitched up the wound.
“The procedure took around an hour. I ended up with three stitches altogether,” Kezic told Perth Now. “Three days have passed and I haven’t faced any infection from it.”
A Perth man has suffered a freak injury while surfing in Indonesia – impaled in the face by a fish.
The sharp beak of the garfish wedged in his face after flying out of the water and through the air, nearly blinding him. @SarahSmith9_ #9News pic.twitter.com/hFQPzazjdX
— 9News Perth (@9NewsPerth) June 28, 2023
