Italian surfer and influencer Giulia Manfrini has died at age 36 after she was fatally impaled by a swordfish off the western coast of Indonesia.
The “freak accident” occurred earlier this month in the waters surrounding the Mentawai Islands, a remote island chain that’s popular with the surf community, according to an Instagram statement shared by Manfrini’s business partner, James Colston.
Manfrini was enjoying the waves off Masokut Island on Oct. 18 when a large swordfish leapt from the water and impaled her on the left side of her chest, Lahmudin Siregar, acting head of the Mentawai Islands disaster management agency, said Tuesday. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors determined she was suffered a wound about two inches deep.
“Unfortunately, even with the brave efforts of her partner, local resort staff and doctors, Giulia couldn’t be saved,” Colston said. “We believe she died doing what she loved, in a place that she loved.”
Prior to her tragic death, Manfrini had been staying at Hidden Bay Resort Mentawais.
“May you follow your path of light @giuliamamfrini and may you surf the eternal waves on the other side,” the resort said in an Instagram tribute. “We leave our condolences to all her family and friends and hope that the joy and passion that were always present in Giulia’s daily life will remain in the memory of all those who were lucky enough to know her.”
Although her official cause of death has not been revealed, Stab Magazine obtained a medical report indicating that Manfrini’s nose was foaming after the incident. That suggests she likely died of “oxygen deprivation from drowning.”