A 12-year-old Australian boy, Nico Antic, has died in hospital after sustaining severe injuries to both legs in a shark attack in Sydney.
The teenager passed away nearly a week after the large shark attacked him while he was swimming with friends in six-metre-deep water.
The incident occurred as Nico and his friends were jumping from rocks into the waters at a beach in Vaucluse, an eastern suburb of Sydney.
According to the boy’s family in a statement released on Saturday, he succumbed to the injuries sustained during the attack despite all efforts by medical practitioners to save him.
“We are heartbroken to share that our son, Nico, has passed away,” said his parents, Lorena and Juan Antic.
“Nico was a happy, friendly, and sporty young boy with the kindest and most generous spirit. He was always full of life, and that’s how we’ll remember him,” they added.
The attack, which took place in Sydney Harbour after heavy rain had drained into the harbour—turning the water murky, was one of four shark attacks recorded over two days, prompting officials to close dozens of the city’s beaches.
In September, a great white shark killed surfer Mercury Psillakis at a popular northern Sydney ocean beach. Two months later, a bull shark killed a woman swimming off a remote beach north of Sydney.
Australian scientists say increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures may be altering sharks’ migratory patterns, potentially contributing to the recent rise in attacks.
