The 57-year-old Aussie dad who was ripped apart in a deadly shark attack is being hailed a hero for saving his friends from the jaws of the massive beast that stormed a group of surfers the morning before Father’s Day.
About 10 a.m. on September 6, just hours before Father’s Day in Australia, 57-year-old Mercury Psillakis – a father of one and lifelong surfer – was tragically killed in a shark attack while surfing off the coast of Dee Why Beach in northern Sydney.
‘Breached and dropped’
Toby Martin, a close friend of Psillakis, witnessed the attack and described the beast striking as “really dramatic and quite graphic,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reports.
“[Psillakis] was at the back of the pack still trying to get everyone together when the shark just lined him up. It came straight from behind and breached and dropped straight on him. It’s the worst-case scenario,” the former professional surfer, who was out on the waves with Psillakis that morning, told the Daily Telegraph.
“They normally come from the side, but this one came straight from behind, breached and dropped on him. It was so quick.”
‘Don’t bite me’
A witness described the horror as the shark’s fin appeared above the surface of the water.
“There was a guy screaming ‘I don’t want to get bitten, I don’t want to get bitten, don’t bite me,’ and I saw the dorsal fin of the shark come up and it was huge,” Mark Morgenthal told CNN affiliate Sky News Australia.
“Then I saw the tail fin come up and start kicking, and the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail fin looked to be about four meters, so it actually looked like a six-meter (about 19 feet) shark.”
Missing limbs
Psillakis vanished beneath the waves with his surfboard, losing several limbs in the brutal shark attack, New South Wales Police Inspector Stuart Thomson revealed during a press conference.
“His (friends) managed to make it back to the beach safely and a short time later his body was found floating in the surf, and a couple of other people went out and recovered it,” NSW Police Inspector Stuart Thomson said, per CNN. “Attempts to save his life were unsuccessful.”
And according to Martin, Psillakis – an experienced surfer – was missing “a number of limbs.” His board was so shredded that only two pieces, which would later help identify the shark, were recovered from the water.
The attack marks only the second fatal shark incident in Sydney since 1963, intensifying public shock and grief over the loss.
‘Heroic’
“A really deep loss for us on the eve of Father’s Day for an avid surfer, loving father, loving husband, great son and great person,” Martin told ABC, recalling the heart-wrenching final moments of his friend’s life.
Revealing that Psillakis’ final moments weren’t based in fear but bravery, Martin described his friend as “stoic, heroic to the end.”
“Merc spotted the shark early, informed the other surfers in the water to band together and to try and get back to shore safely,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “In that process, unfortunately making his way back into the surf, the shark beelined for the back of Merc and severed his legs quite severely.”
Martin added: “Self-preservation wasn’t there – just the safety of the others was important for him.”
Great white
A large-scale effort is underway to locate the shark responsible for the attack.
Police and shark biologists are examining Psillakis’s remains, pieces of his surfboard, and witness statements, believe a great white shark is responsible for the fatal attack.
“Shark biologists have assessed photographs of the victim’s surfboard and determined a white shark approximately 3.4-3.6 metres (about 11 foot) in length was likely responsible,” a spokesperson from the NSW Department of Primary Industries said, per ABC.
While the ocean may have claimed his life, Psillakis’ courage has left a lasting mark and he is now remembered as not just a victim, but as a hero who put others first when it mattered most.
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