Tell me this isn't a good way to ruin an otherwise pleasant afternoon on the water. Last weekend, Ian Card and his father, Alan -- both charter fishing boat operators and experienced marlin fishermen -- were participating in Bermuda's Sea Horse Anglers' Club Billfish Tournament. During the tournament, an angler on their boat hooked an 800-pound, 14-foot-long marlin. Rather than swim from the boat, the marlin leapt from the water, turned sharply, and impaled Ian with its 3-foot-long spear just below his collar bone! The force of the impact knocked Ian over the side of the boat and into the Atlantic!

Apparently, Ian struggled with the fish -- somehow managing to un-impale himself underwater as the fish plunged below the surface -- while his father cut the line and helped his son get back into their boat. Immediately, they zoomed for shore, and Ian was admitted to a hospital where he underwent surgery to halt the bleeding in his "fist-sized" wound. Although doctors claim the wound could have been fatal, Ian is alive. The surgeon who treated Ian, a German national named Christian Wilmsmeier, said: "My home town is far away from the sea and normally I do not operate on such injuries. I was impressed by the dangerousness of such a fish."

In answer to the question on everyone's mind: sadly, the marlin got away.

[Thanks, Dad!]