Aussie pro-surfers Fanning, Wilson returning home "with all their bits"

The mothers of Australian surfers Mick Fanning and Julian Wilson shared a relieved laugh on live television on Tuesday, telling Australia they are grateful their sons are returning home "with all their bits."

Friends, yet competition rivals battling each other for a world title, Fanning and Wilson, are due to return to Australia on Tuesday from the World Surf League (WSL) Jeffreys Bay Open professional surfing event in South Africa on Sunday.

Fanning, 34 from Australia's Gold Coast in Queensland - where his mother awaits him - punched a shark, speculated to be a great white, and used his board as a shield before rescue crews pulled him and Wilson from the water and to safety during the event's final.

The incident has shocked the global surfing community and global audiences alike.

Fanning's mother Elizabeth Osborne conveyed her thanks to Nola Wilson on Australian local broadcaster Channel Nine, whose son bravely paddled towards Fanning in the moments after he was attacked.

Wilson has been recommended for an Australian bravery award for his actions.

Wilson's mother says the gratitude and pride she and Fanning's mum feel is overwhelming.

"All we've got to do is be so grateful that they're coming home with all their bits," Nola Wilson laughed while talking with Channel Nine. "Of course I'm always proud of Julian, but you know, that's just his nature. He would have been so concerned for Mick that it wouldn't have even entered his head to do anything else."

The threat of shark is widely agreed by Fanning, Wilson, their family and the global surfing community as a risk of the ocean.

"So thankful to be able to have this hug with Julian Wilson," Fanning posted on Instagram in a photo embracing Wilson, after the event. "This man came to my aid like a warrior!! It was by far the scariest thing I have ever seen through and am still rattled. In our sport we always think about sharks and know we are in their domain."

WSL commissioner Kieren Perrow, who watched the incident from the beach, said the pair's fellow competitors had made sure both men weren't allowed to dwell on the attack by themselves.

"They both were pretty shell-shocked and needed some time to process it, no one really wanted to leave them on their own to go through that," Perrow told local media on Tuesday.

"The boys all got together, fellow competitors, and spent some time hanging out and trying to process it."

Fanning and Wilson are expected to talk to waiting reporters in Sydney on their arrival from South Africa on Tuesday afternoon, before traveling home to the Gold Coast later in the evening. Endi