In Sydney, Australia, a young man named Simon Nellist, 35, was killed last Wednesday afternoon by a giant four-and-a-half-metre white shark off the bay as he prepared to swim at a charity event in Little Bay, east of the city.
The fiancee and friends of the Sydney wild shark attack victim recounted their love story and shared a poignant photo of their engagement taken before the attack.
Nellist was about to marry Jessie Ho, but the couple’s wedding plans had to be delayed until mid this year due to the pandemic. Ho has been keeping quiet since Nellist died, but on Sunday she shared a touching photo from the day she received a marriage proposal by the water in 2019. Many people shared their condolences and talked about the beautiful love story of the two.
Family members and friends were waiting to depart for the wedding, but now tragically they have booked flights to attend the memorial service. After the young man’s death, his loved ones shared dozens of messages stating that they would miss him very much, and told how a talented photographer, brave soldier, and incredible diver Nellist was.
**This is how the terrifying moments when the great white shark smashed the swimmer to pieces were viewed
TIGER SHARK ALARM
For days after Nellist’s tragic death, lifeguards have been searching the sea with drones, jet skis and helicopters.
In the searches made after this deadly attack, it was reported that there was a large tiger shark on Malabar Beach, just 5 km from the area where the incident took place. Known as one of the most dangerous species, tiger sharks are also known to attack large numbers of people and cause their deaths.
PARTS OF KILLED MAN STILL WANTED
Donna Wishart, spokesperson for the lifeguard team that searched the area, said after the incident:
We conducted searches from ‘Little Bay’ along the beaches in the north to Bondi, providing increased surveillance in the days following the attack to alleviate fears of swimmers and regain the trust of people and everyone who witnessed the attack. We are still searching for the remains of the swimmer, but with each passing day we are losing hope of finding anything. If we see any shark activity, we’ll alert the lifeguards on the scene.’
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1963, A SHARK HAS KILLED A MAN
At the time of Nellist’s shark attack, she was only 150 meters from the fishermen and swimmers at Buchan Point, but no one intervened and the young woman was disastrously baited by a giant shark. She is the first person to be killed by a shark in Sydney since 1963.