“I love sitting in the lineup with a few friends,
listening to the sounds of the jungle, and waiting for waves I know
will be perfect.”
An Italian surfer, Guilia Manfrini, who sure did seem to
be living her best life, as they say, is dead after being
impaled by a swordfish’s long sharp bill while surfing in the Ments
in western Sumatra.
Giulia Manfrini, who was thirty-six, was riding a wave near
Pulau Masokut island, a jumping off point to some of the Mentawais’
best waves, when the swordfish jumped out of the water and hit her
in the chest, its bill driving five cm into her heart.
Despite first aid efforts of two other surfers, Massimo Ferro
and Alexandre Ribas, and being rushed to a nearby medical clinic
the woman couldn’t be saved.
If you want to judge by her Instagram account, Turin-born Giulia
had been having a helluva time the past few years.
She was a ski and snowboard instructor turned “surf travel
expert”, lived in Bali although she was a qualified lawyer, was an
ISA Level 2 Surf Coach and Surf Apnea Survival Instructor, carried
a perpetual tan and was rarely photographed without revealing rows
of snowy teeth.
In a 2019 interview, when she was
asked about the best country she’d ever visited Manfrini
said,
“Well, every place has left something in my heart. Surfing wise,
I love the wilderness of North Sumatra–the rainforest there is so
primordial and gorgeous! I love sitting in the line up with few
friends, listening only to the sounds of the jungle, and waiting
for a set which I already know will be perfect and will deliver
some barrels.”
Her favourite wave, she said, was Nias.
“I love that wave so much, I could surf it every day for hours.
It’s such a technical wave, but still pretty safe since it breaks
in deep water. It works with every tide, size and (always light)
winds! You can get barrelled, cutback, turn! So playful!”
Guilia’s last Instagram post was back in April when she wrote
“Out of office. Back in two weeks.” Her account has been flooded
with over 1000 messages of condolences.
As for death by swordfish, well, it happens.
Randy Llanes, a Hawaii
fisherman, died in 2015 after being impaled by a swordfish he had
speared. This event was noted for its rarity and the fact that
Llanes had predicted he might die in the ocean or while
fishing.
8. Diver gets attacked by a swordfish at
220m (721 feet) below the surface.pic.twitter.com/gyCZxGaLXK— Wolf of X (@tradingMaxiSL)
October 18, 2024
