I once witnessed a small fish jump out of the wave face on the right at Lakey Peak, hit a helmeted man who was deep in the barrel in the head and knock him off. I assumed it was the accomplice of a particularly territorial parrot fish who lived the reef below the boil who used to wait and try and eat your feet… But I have never seen anything like his.

Muhammad Idul, was fishing in Buton waters, South East Sulawesi on Saturday, January 18, when a needlefish fish jumped out of the water and… this happened…

He underwent surgery to remove the fish… two days later! Two days with a fish stuck in his neck!

It took a two-hour operation with three surgeons and two anaesthetists on the job.

Needlefish can make short jumps out of the water traveling at up to 60 km/h (37 mph) and often leap over the decks of shallow boats rather than going around.