An Italian surfer has died after being impaled in the chest by a sharp-billed fish while surfing off Indonesia’s West Sumatra coast.
Giulia Manfrini, 36, had been surfing in the Mentawai Islands, a remote island chain when she suffered a “freak accident,” said her business partner James Colston.
“Unfortunately, even with the brave efforts of her partner, local resort staff and doctors, Giulia couldn’t be saved,” Colston said Sunday in a statement on Instagram. “We believe she died doing what she loved, in a place that she loved.”
Lahmudin Siregar, acting head of the Mentawai Islands disaster management agency, said Manfrini was struck in the chest by a swordfish while surfing off the southern part of Siberut Island around 9:30 a.m. local time, according to state-news agency Antara.
According to a medical report, she suffered a stab wound to the upper left chest with a depth of about five centimeters, the agency said.
Together Colston and Manfrini founded travel company AWAVE Travel, which organized trips to popular surfing destinations, including the Mentawai Islands.
Hidden Bay Resort Mentawais said in an Instagram post that their “client and friend” had been “hit in the chest by a needlefish and died almost immediately.”
Both needlefish and swordfish have long, sharp bills and can jump out of the water. While their physical features can be dangerous to humans, fatalities are incredibly rare.