Surfer dies after being impaled by needlefish in Indonesia

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The body of a surfer killed after being stabbed in the chest by a needlefish in remote Indonesian waters last week is on its way home to her family in Italy.

Giulia Manfrini, 36, was “hunting waves” at a surfing resort off western Sumatra around 9:30 a.m. when, as reported by government news agency Antara, the fish leapt from the water and “stuck her right in the chest.”

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An official said police reported Manfrini flagged down two other surfers with her, was provided first aid and rushed to a nearby hospital on another island where she ultimately died.

A medical report suggested the flying fish left a five-centimetre deep stab wound in Manfrini’s upper left chest and that she was foaming from the nose, unable to breathe properly.

Anatara identified two of the men who were with Manfrini at the time of the accident as Massimo Ferro and Alexandre Ribas, both of whom posted to Instagram following the tragic accident.

Ribas, who operates the Hidden Bay Resort Mentawais where Manfrini was a guest at the time, said in an Instagram post that she “died almost instantly.”

“Unfortunately, in this case, there was nothing we could do and we provided all the necessary support to help with the procedures for repatriating the body,” he wrote, adding condolences and extolling the resort’s safety protocols.

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The other witness, Massimo Ferro, was Manfrini’s partner.

“I am grateful to have been a part of your life, we had such fun doing together what we love doing,” he wrote on Instagram with a series of photos of the two surfing and snowboarding together and a video of Manfrini playing a cover of The Animals’ ‘House of the Rising Sun’ on acoustic guitar while singing along.

“I feel grateful for being with you till the last second.”

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Manfrini, a native of Venari in Northern Italy, is a surfing instructor and a former professional snowboarder who later co-founded AWAVE Travel, which charters trips to luxury resorts and ultimate destinations for both sports.

On AWAVE’s Instagram, co-founder, James Colston called Manfrini announced her passing in a “freak accident.”

“Even with the brave efforts of her partner, local resort staff and doctors, Giulia couldn’t be saved,” he wrote. “We believe she died doing what she loved, in a place that she loved.”

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More condolences came from the mayor of her hometown, Fabio Giulivi, who wrote in an Instagram post translated from Italian: “The news of her death has left us shocked and makes us feel helpless in the face of the tragedy that took her from life so prematurely.”

Giulivi went on to celebrate Manfrini’s success and expressed his and the city’s condolences to her parents Giorgio and Chiara Manfrini.

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Needlefish are long, slender shallow water species – up to three feet long – with sharp, protruding bills and are known to erupt from the water at speeds up to 65 km/h when hunting for food. They’re not normally aggressive towards humans, but there have been instances of others reportedly being killed in similar attacks.

This May in the Philipines, a fisherman was pierced in the stomach and succumbed to a hemorrhage on his way to a nearby hospital, as reported by the GMA Network. In 2018, the Thai Navy reported that a trainee died after being struck in the neck by a fast-moving needlefish.

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