Father of two taken in surf at Gracetown - Shark

18.08.2010

A young father of two has died despite
the frantic efforts of rescuers who
tried in vain to save his life after he was
savaged by a shark while surfing at
Gracetown yesterday.
Nick Edwards, 31, was spotted
face-down in the water, his right leg
mauled, his wetsuit partly shredded
and his surfboard snapped in two.
Gracetown man Rob Alder raised
the alarm after seeing Mr Edwards'
board floating on its own while checking
out the surf with binoculars from
his veranda.
"He was white and he'd washed up
on the rocks, so he was unconscious,"
Mr Alder said.
"Craig (Gordon) had got him out of
the water and we got him further up
the beach, on my surfboard, and put
my leg rope around his leg as a tourniquet
and got the blood back in his face
until the ambulance arrived."
Mr Gordon was the first person in
the water and battled breaking waves
to pull Mr Edwards from the surf.
Dunsborough Police Sgt Craig
Anderson was full of praise for the
rescuers."The effort of those guys this
morning was outstanding," he said.
"Unfortunately, the nature of the
injuries sustained were severe and
obviously took the man's life in a short
period of time."
Mr Edwards, a keen surfer, had two
children, aged seven and two, and had
been living in Busselton while working
as a fly in, fly out mine employee at
BHP's Leinster nickel operation.
"Two small children, so obviously
those guys are going through some
emotion, some severe pain," Sgt Anderson said. "You
wouldn't wish this on anyone. To lose your Dad doing
something he enjoys and loves."
A 15km stretch of the coast was immediately closed
while the Department of Fisheries searched for the
shark, most likely a great white.
None of the rescuers told police they say a shark or a
fin, but one woman said she saw thrashing in the water.
In 1996, the communities of Gracetown and Margaret
River were devastated when an overhanging cliff
collapsed, killing five children and four adults during a
surf carnival near where yesterday's attack happened.
Six years ago, surfer Brad Smith was taken by a shark
in nearby waters.