Hero desperately tried to save teen girl killed by shark when she went to 'swim with dolphins'
PERTH, AUSTRALIA: A heroic young man dived into a river to save a 16-year-old girl who was being mauled by a shark in Swan River on Saturday, January 5. Stella Berry, 16, who reportedly jumped off her jet ski to swim with dolphins, was attacked by a shark and eventually died in North Fremantle, Western Australia, around 3.30 pm local time. According to witnesses, a man bravely jumped into the water during the shark attack and managed to free her from the predator.
The heroic man risked his own life and somehow pulled Berry out of the water. Despite the paramedics' best efforts, it was too late. A resident reportedly claimed to have witnessed the attack by what she believed to be a bull shark and heard screams before the man dove in. Following the incident, Berry's relatives and friends were observed walking close to the river in a state of shock, according to The Mirror.
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A fun day turned into a tragedy
Berry, an 11th Grade student from Shenton College in Perth, was having fun with her friends riding jet skis when she spotted dolphins and decided to dive into the water to swim with them. Suddenly, the shark appeared and pulled her under the water, as per the Daily Mail.
An eyewtiness, Joshua Banks, 16, who was playing on a rope swing nearby at the time, told The West Australian, "There were about seven of us and we were on the rope swing for around an hour or two," adding, "We saw the dolphins, there were dolphins there. When all the police came by we thought we were in trouble."
Banks then explained that they didn't know what was happening as they continued to play in the water. He said, "We were so grateful that it wasn’t one of us, of course we’re so sorry for what happened and for the family involved."
'It is unusual'
Calling the incident "traumatic", Acting Inspector Paul Robinson for the Fremantle District reportedly said, "It's an extremely traumatic event for everyone involved and everyone who knew the young girl, so I won't be going into the extent of the injuries."
Robinson continued, "It is unusual for a shark to be that far down the river … at this point in time an alert has been put out, a shark warning just to let people know this incident has taken place. What we've been advised issues with friends on the river, they were on Jet Skis, there was possibly a pod of dolphins been seen nearby, and the young female jumped in the water to swim nearby the dolphins."
Police did not provide specifics about Berry's injuries or confirm the kind of shark that attacked her. There hasn't been a fatal shark attack reported from the Swan River in 10 years.
