Updated

Two Australian fisherman are recovering after a fluke occurrence on Thursday left them face-to-face with a thrashing marlin.

The men, along with another friend, were traveling in a rigid-hulled inflatable boat off the coast of Coffs Harbour in New South Wales when they struck the marlin, causing it to fly out of the water and into their boat, 9 News reported.

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The fish, which was estimated to weigh over 175 pounds, then managed to lacerate and fracture the arm of one fisherman, 46, and slice into the shoulder of his brother, 48, before flopping out of the boat. A third fisherman was unharmed, the outlet reported.

The older brother was treated and released from a medical facility on Thursday night. A rescue helicopter transported the 46-year-old fisherman to a hospital in Coffs Harbour, although he was later transferred to Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital where he remains in stable condition, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

One of the men was airlifted to a local hospital for treatment of a laceration and fractured arm. 

One of the men was airlifted to a local hospital for treatment of a laceration and fractured arm.  (Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service)

'His arm was sliced from wrist to elbow with the tendons and flesh exposed,” claimed Nikki Voss, a witness who spoke with 7 News Sydney.

Stanley Young, a local fisherman who works with a charter service in the area, added that both men were lucky to be alive — “especially the guy that got speared in the shoulder.”

“It’s like being stuck with a sword,” he said, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

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Neither of the men’s injuries was believed to be life-threatening.