PHOTO: Courtesy of AAP.
A brother of champion surfer Mick Fanning has died overnight.
The news was confirmed a short time ago by a close friend of the Fanning family.
In an online post, Surfer Magazine said Fanning, who is competing in the Pipeline Masters in Hawaii, woke to the news his brother Peter had died in his sleep.
“This year has presented more ups and downs for Mick Fanning than most can fathom,” the post read.
“Today, he woke to the news that his older brother had passed away in his sleep.
“Now, he paddles out into his Round Three heat against Jamie O’Brien with a World Title on the line.
“We’re rooting for you, Mick. We all are”.
Fanning has not yet publicly commented.
The devastating news comes after a heavy year for the Queensland athlete, who survived a shark attack on live television during the J-Bay Open in South Africa in July.
Fanning was sitting in the Jeffreys Bay line-up when a shark, believed to be a great white, bit into his board and thrashed in the water.
Fanning also lost his sixteen-year-old brother, Sean, in a car accident in 1998.
He was seventeen at the time.
This morning, the three times world champion progressed through to the fourth round of the Pipeline Masters.
