Originally appeared on E! Online
Italian surfer Giulia Manfrini has died after a fatal run-in with a swordfish.
The 36-year-old was surfing near the Mentawai Islands Regency in Indonesia on Oct. 18 when a swordfish “unexpectedly jumped towards Manfrini and pierced her chest,” Lahmudin Siregar, the acting head of the Mentawai Islands’ Disaster Management Agency, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
She was rushed to the Pei Pei Pasakiat Taileleu Health Center but succumbed to her injuries, per the outlet.
Manfrini suffered a deep wound measuring nearly two inches and showed signs of drowning, according to medical reports obtained by the news corporation.
In a statement, Manfrini’s colleague James Colston — with whom she co-founded AWAVE Travel, a surfing and snowboarding excursion company — called the incident a “freak accident.”
“Unfortunately, even with the brave efforts of her partner, local resort staff and doctors, Giulia couldn’t be saved,” Colston he wrote in an Oct. 18 Instagram post. “We believe she died doing what she loved, in a place that she loved.”
Describing Manfrini as the “lifeblood” of the company, Colston continued, “Giulia couldn’t travel without people falling in love with her smile, laugh and endless Stoke. Anyone was lucky to have her on board a charter or surf trip.”
He added, “We love you Giulia. I am so sorry to say goodbye.”
Manfrini was a snowboard instructor with the Associazione Maestri Sci Italiani — also known as the Association of Italian Ski Instructors — prior to getting her teaching certification with the International Surfing Association, per her LinkedIn.
According to Manfrini’s bio on the AWAVE Travel website, she was a former professional snowboarder whose love of surfing “led her all over the world to chase waves.”
“When not organizing trips,” her profile read, “you’ll find her waves and powder hunting, song-writing, dancing & playing beach volley!”
Manfrini had traveled to the Mentawai Islands years before her death. In a 2022 Instagram post geotagged from the surfing locale, she wrote, “Witnessing one of the most incredible and very rare phenomenons on Earth: the so-called ‘GLORY,’ a full circle rainbow in the sky.”
She added at the time, “Grateful for this life and nature!”
