During a family Easter weekend activity, a 17-year-old girl was brutally attacked by a shark while surfing at the popular surf spot of Kelp Beds, near Wylie Bay in Esperance.
The teen lost her leg in the mauling on Monday afternoon, with her father – who heard her scream before being dragged under – and another surfer pulling her to shore as soon as she resurfaced from the attack.
The girl’s mother and sisters watched on in horror until they got her back to shore, with the family then trying to provide emergency first aid until an ambulance arrived, The West Australian reports.
It’s understood that by the time she arrived at Esperance Hospital, the teen (identified only as being from Mandurah near Perth) was unconscious and had lost a lot of blood. She was sadly pronounced dead a short while later.
Wylie Beach is currently closed for the next 48 hours while authorities search for the shark, believed to be a great white. Whether the plan is to kill or catch the shark if it’s spotted is unknown.
This attack was in the same location that surfer Sean Pollard lost his right hand and left arm in 2014 and marks the third fatal shark attack in a year in Western Australia.
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