Mum of hero surfer faced losing other son as shark closed in

The mother of an Australian surfer who miraculously escaped being eaten by a shark has spoken of her horror as she was faced with losing another son.

Three-time world champion Mick Fanning somehow emerged unscathed after fighting off the shark which attacked him while he waited for a wave in the final of the World Surf League event at Jeffreys Bay in South Africa on Sunday.

Fanning's mother, Elizabeth Osborne, was watching the final at her Tweed Heads home when she saw the shark approach him.

With her son disappearing from view as the waves rose, Ms Osborne said she thought she was going to lose her only remaining child.

Her other son Sean died in a car crash 17 years ago when Fanning was 16.

"I was just really numb, and it was just like that when I heard about Sean," she told A Current Affair.

"I'm just so grateful Mick is OK, and I know Sean was looking after him."

Ms Osborne said the experience would not keep her son out of the water, with Fanning scheduled to compete in next month's J-Bay event in Tahiti.

"I think he probably will (surf again), I'll follow him and support him no matter what he chooses to do," she said.