A beloved young surfer has been killed in a shark attack in South Australia. Khai Cowley, 15, was enjoying the waves on Dec. 28 off Ethel Beach with his dad.
Around 1:30 p.m., a large white shark was spotted. Tim Philip, a witness to the incident, described the frantic efforts to save Khai. Standing on a cliff face, he noticed the teenager in trouble and rushed toward the beach. From the rocks, he saw Khai’s father desperately yelling as his son swam towards him.
Philip grabbed a stranger’s surfboard and paddled out to reach Khai, who was unconscious. However, his efforts were thwarted when the suspected great white shark, approximately 13 feet long, began circling them.
“Then it started to head back out to sea. I was in waist-deep water and just made the decision to run back… chest deep at this point, grab him and managed to drag him back to shore, back to the people on the beach,” Philip told 7 News.
“It was just a matter of… I didn’t want to see his body out to sea, so did what I could.”
He was able to pull the young man to the beach where paramedics arrived. The teenager had suffered a significant bite, which may have severed his leg, leading to exsanguination.
Friends and family of Khai have posted heartfelt tributes on social media, expressing grief over the loss of a young surfer with “so much potential.” Khai’s aunt, Lauryn Barley, set up a GoFundMe page to assist with funeral costs, describing her nephew as having “the most beautiful soul” and being taken “too soon.”
Surfing South Australia also paid tribute to Khai, describing him as a “happy, kind, and respectful kid” who was deeply loved by his surfing peers. The organization expressed condolences to Khai’s family and emphasized the profound impact he had on the local surfing community.
The tragic incident follows two other fatal shark attacks in the area.
Simon Baccanello, 46, was with other surfers, including children, when a large shark was spotted just before 10 a.m. A good Samaritan on the beach began honking his car horn to alert those in the water to come to shore.
Baccanello, who was a teacher, warned others to paddle to shore when he was attacked by the shark. His body was never recovered.
Tod Gendle, 55, was surfing Nov. 2 south of Streaky Bay on the western side of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. There were 8 to 10 other people in the water with him off Granites Beach when a shark knocked him off his board. An estimated 16-foot white shark was seen attacking him as his body vanished.
Two other non-fatal shark attacks occurred in the state this year.
Pamela Cook, 64, was swimming Oct. 1 near the Beachport jetty in South Australia. The grandmother was with a local swim group when she felt something hit her ankle. She turned to see a shark, thought to be a great white, bit her thigh.
Bridgette O’Shannessy, 32, was free diving off a Port Noarlunga reef Nov. 10 when a shark grabbed her face. Her partner was able to help her to shore where she had multiple surgeries for extensive facial injuries, including the removal of some of her teeth and nerve damage.
All locations have been marked on the 2023 Shark Attack Map.
