Surviving the Unthinkable: A Guest’s Shark Encounter
A Visitor’s Shark Attack Story
Last night, a twenty-year-old boy with the lower part of his leg missing arrived at our B&B.
This is not an uncommon occurrence as we are close to one of Italy’s most famous orthopedic hospitals, the Rizzoli Institute.
However, the young man surprised us:
“A shark ate my leg,” he said, laughing!
We laughed and asked what had happened in reality, and… indeed, Matteo — this was the young man’s name — had lost part of his limb at sea due to a shark attack!!
He had jumped into the water for a swim, but a shark grabbed his foot, just like in Steven Spielberg’s famous movie.
What happened?
Matteo Mariotti had gone to Australia to study and work, and he was saved thanks to a friend who provided him with first aid on the shore while waiting for the helicopter.
Matteo is a young man who has always preferred nature and the mountains to the city. It was his passion for biology, not surprisingly, that drove him to explore the oceanic continent.
Still, it was mainly the loss of his beloved grandfather that prompted him, on the afternoon of last December 8th, to swim in the waters of the Coral Sea off the northwest coast of Australia.
In a “safe” Australian beach
Armed with a mask and a camera, Matteo was ready to dive into the ocean and take some shots of fish, as usual.
“But after a few steps in the water, I felt a terrible pain in my foot.” he said.
It was probably a tiger or bullshark, given its aggression and length of about six meters. Not surprisingly, this species tends to approach beaches early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
It is improbable that a shark would attack a human being.
According to experts, Matteo was likely in the path of another target for this animal. Perhaps another fish, maybe a tiny seal.
The shark must have attacked mindlessly.
Incredible seconds
Despite the attack, Matteo was fearless.
In no time, the shark grabbed his entire leg and dragged him offshore.
He managed to grab its head with his hands, opened its mouth, and, with difficulty, freed his leg.
Exhausted but driven by a sense of survival, Matteo began to swim at full speed towards the shore, even though — as he recounts — from the knee down, he felt nothing was there.
“I thought of my family and friends, that I might never see them again,” he said tearfully.
His friend Tommaso, a nurse and diving instructor, eventually rescued him. “I was screaming with fear that the shark might reach me and eat me,” the young man recalls. “I was screaming for help from my friend on the beach; he saved me.”
Shortly after Tommaso’s intervention, a helicopter arrived and transported the young man to the hospital in Brisbane.
Thanks to his courage and the timely intervention of his friend and the rescue team, the 20-year-old only partially lost the use of his left lower limb.
Our relief
After hearing the story, we were surprised but also relieved.
We explained to him that the boys we see without a leg in our B&B, in general, suffer from bone cancers.
In those cases, these young men do not know if it will be possible to save their other leg. That’s not all!
Bone tumors in young people are fast and fierce. Those who manage to survive are indeed lucky.
Matteo looked at us perplexed
“You have to think that there are younger boys than you who go to bed at night not knowing if they will have legs tomorrow,” we told him.
Walking is an activity that we need to pay more attention to. And yet, it is a miracle of engineering and energy for which we are not grateful enough.
Matteo is now currently in Bologna because doctors are studying a prosthesis for him. He will walk again thanks to a mechanical limb.
The problem is overcoming the shock of such an experience.
You may see the video he shot with his camera here:
My name is Andrea Becca, and I am a philosophy graduate and a journalist. www.andreabecca.it
However, life led me to become the owner of a bed and breakfast in the heart of Bologna, Italy. This venture offers me a unique and privileged perspective on life and the world. It is from this vantage point that the stories I share are born.