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Tributes have been paid to an Italian surfer who died after being bitten in the chest by a marlin off Indonesia’s west coast, the travel agency where she worked announced this week.
Giulia Manfrini, 36, was surfing in the Mentawai Islands off the coast of Sumatra last week when she was attacked by a fish with a long, pointed beak.
“She was surfing off the coast of Masokut Island when suddenly a marlin jumped and hit her in the chest,” Ramuddin Siregar, acting director of the Mentawai Disaster Mitigation Agency, told AFP on Tuesday.
“They took her to the nearest clinic, but as soon as they arrived she couldn’t make it.”
Ramudin told state news agency Antara that the swordfish caused a two-inch deep wound.
The resort she was staying at said she loved surfing in the area.
“She was hit directly in the chest by a needlefish and died almost instantly,” Hidden Bay Resort Mentawais said in a statement on Instagram on Monday.
“But we know that she did not suffer and continued to do what she loved most. May you continue on the path of light and surf the eternal waves on the other side.”
James Colston, co-founder of Manfrini’s travel agency, AWAVE Travel, said in a statement on Sunday that Manfrini “died in the place he loved, doing what he loved,” adding that Manfrini “died in an unexpected way.” It was called an accident.
“Despite the valiant efforts of our partners, local resort staff and doctors, Julia could not be saved,” AWAVE Travel said in a social media post.
Manfrini is a former professional snowboarder and sales manager at a surf resort, according to the company’s website.
“Julia was the lifeblood of this company and her contagious enthusiasm for surfing, snow and life will be remembered by all who came into contact with her,” the company said in a statement.
According to a BBC report, Fabio Giulivi, the mayor of Manfrini’s hometown of Venaria Reale, said that surfing and starting a travel agency were her “double dreams.”
Last year, American professional surfer Mikala Jones died at the age of 44 in a surfing accident in the same region of Indonesia.
Previous studies have shown marlin attacks are extremely rare, but in 2015 a man died in Hawaii after being impaled by a marlin’s beak.
