Paul Wilcox, a 50-year-old British expatriate, was killed by a shark during a beach swim in Australia at Byron Bay, the popular tourist destination in Australia, while his wife looked on from the shore.
The Warwickshire-born former IT worker had gone for a mid-morning swim in gentle clear surf and was not far from the shore at a sheltered inlet called Clarke’s Beach, long regarded as one of the safest spots along the coast.
Shortly after 10.30am, he was bitten above the right knee by what is believed to have been a 13-foot great white shark. He was dragged to shore where his wife of 24 years, Victoria Wilcox, who watched in horror as rescuers tried in vain to resuscitate him.
A paddle-boarder, Mark Hickey, who assisted in the rescue, said the shark bit Mr Wilcox and appeared to return for a further attack.
“I saw what looked like seaweed but it was blood in the water,” said Mr Hickey, a lawyer.
“I thought it was a dead turtle, but then I could see the shark circling and the object moving. The shark came back to him and had another go. I didn’t know it was a person but when I realised I ran out and waded to the bank and grabbed him and did CPR, but it was too late.”
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