An angler was almost killed when a giant bill fish leapt from the sea, speared his chest and knocked him off his boat in a freak accident at the weekend.

Ian Card, from Somerset, was impaled by the blue marlin and forced overboard during an international sports fishing tournament on Saturday morning.

His father Alan, skipper of the commercial fishing vessel Challenger, watched as the struggling creature ? estimated to weigh about 800lb and measuring 14ft in length ? flew through the air and struck the 32-year-old, who was acting as mate, just below his collarbone with its sword-like bill.

"The fish was airborne going across the full width of the boat and my son was standing up about eight feet from the stern," said Mr. Card. "It impaled him with its bill, a bill of about two-and-a-half or three feet long. All in one motion the fish flew across the cockpit and took him out of the boat. He landed about 15ft away. The fish was on top of him. He was underwater and he had his arms wrapped round the fish and the fish was pushing him under.

"I lost sight of him for a few seconds. As a father looking at a son that's just been impaled it's quite an experience. That's a sight I'll never forget. I knew there was no good going to come out of it."

He said his son emerged alone surrounded by a pool of blood some 50ft behind the boat. "He put his hand up to his chest and his fingers disappeared," said Mr. Card, 58. "He had a wound in his chest about as big as your fist."

Family friend Dennis Benevides helped Mr. Card pull his still-conscious 260lb son onto the boat. Meanwhile, angler Leslie Spanswick's line remained attached to the game fish.

"Once we got Ian up, I cut the fish loose," said Mr. Card. "My main concern was not the tournament." He said Mr. Benevides wrapped a towel around the wound while he radioed to base to ensure paramedics were waiting at Robinson's Marina for the boat.

It got to shore some 40 minutes later from the accident spot about 15 miles south of Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, Southampton.

Ian was rushed to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and operated on that afternoon by Dr. Christian Wilmsmeier. The surgeon said last night that if the bill had pierced him a few centimetres to the left or right it would have severed a major vessel in his neck and could have killed him.

"He was very lucky," said the doctor, who arrived on the Island from Bielefeld, Germany, less than three weeks ago. "It was a very serious injury. I was very surprised that a fish can make such an injury. In my home town in Germany it's far away from the sea and normally I do not operate on such injuries. I was impressed by the dangerousness of such a fish."

He said the main aim of the operation was to clean the wound out because of the high risk of infection. Ian was in a stable condition at the hospital last night.

Dan Jacobs, organiser of the Sea Horse Anglers' Club Bill Fish Tournament, in which the 40ft Challenger was competing, said Alan and Ian were among the most experienced marlin fishermen in the world. The pair were the first to hook a marlin weighing more than 1,000lb in Bermuda's waters.

"Fish have jumped into boats before and people have been hurt dealing with marlin but it's very unusual for a fish to leap completely out of the water from behind the boat and come right across the boat," said Mr. Jacobs. "Ian is very lucky to be alive.

"It's just unbelievable what happened. I'd say that we have probably witnessed a miracle. It could have been extremely tragic. We are all very happy that it wasn't."

Mr. Card described what happened as a "freak, freak, freak accident". He said a fish that size could take up to two hours to reel in but this one had only been hooked for about ten minutes.

"We have killed a lot of big fish and we know what's involved. We were in no way shape or form ready to take the fish. The fish all of a sudden changed direction and jumped. The fish made a leap and Ian just happened to be in the way.

"It's been a traumatic experience for me and my son. We could have very easily had a fatality on our hands."

Ian's mother Elizabeth said she was "in a bit of a panic" as she waited for the boat at Robinson's Marina. "I became a very nervous mother. We are now just trying to cope with the whole reality of the thing."

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