Timothy Thompson died after having his arm ripped off by the predator and his heartbroken wife has spoken of the “ache” at knowing that her baby will never know their dad
Image: Katie Thompson/Facebook)
A surfer has died after having his arm ripped off by a great white shark – only hours after kissing his pregnant wife goodbye.
Timothy Thompson, 31, was killed by the predator despite desperate attempts by other surfers and emergency services to save him at Emerald beach, in Coffs Harbour, Australia.
His wife Katie has said she is “heartbroken” and said the time that they had together was “amazing and full of adventures”.
She said that she is taking comfort from “knowing how loved Tim was by everyone”.
The couple were reportedly expecting their first child in January after getting married six months ago.
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Image:
Katie Thompson/Facebook)
Mr Thompson had gone out surfing on Sunday morning when he was attacked by the shark and medics who arrived at 10.45am were unable to save him.
Another surfer told the Daily Telegraph Australia: “I was out in the surf and I heard screaming. I paddled further out to the water and saw a man without an arm, there was lots of blood.
“He was shouting ‘help me’ people were trying to get him out to the shore.
“I saw paramedics performing CPR on him for about an hour and a half trying to save them.”
His wife Katie wrote on Facebook how sad she is that their baby will never know their dad.
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Image:
Katie Thompson/Facebook)
She wrote: ”To say I’m heart broken would be an understatement. I’m just waiting for someone to tell me this isn’t real.
”All I know right now is that I have no choice but to keep going, because I have a little piece of you growing in me.
”My heart aches for our baby who will never get to meet you. You would of been the best daddy.
”I promise to tell our baby everyday how amazing their daddy was, how you never spoke a bad word about anybody, how kind and caring you were and most importantly how much you loved that little bubba growing in my tummy.
”The last thing Tim said to me before he walked out that door for the last time was ‘I love you two’. He kissed me and my tummy goodbye.
”Never in a million years did I think I would be doing life without you. Life can be tragic and unfair, but I take some comfort knowing how loved Tim was by everyone, the time we did have together was amazing and full of adventures.
”I am incredibly blessed that we met and our love story gets to live on with our baby.”
She also thanked the other surfers and paramedics “for being brave, getting him to shore and for doing whatever you could to try and save him.”
Trying to save Mr Thompson was Hugh Riley and his friends, reports 7news.com.au, who used a tourniquet to try and stem the bleeding while others gave CPR.
Mr Riley reportedly said: “There were some pretty horrific injuries and we did all we could to give him a fighting chance at life.”
Mr Thompson’s friends Bronte Graham and Lauren Wall have set up a gofundme page to help support his family.