Nico Antic, the 12-year-old boy who was mauled by a shark in Sydney Harbour, has died in hospital.
He was swimming along with his friends at Nielsen Park on Sunday when he was attacked by what’s considered a bull shark around 4.20pm.
Nico suffered serious injuries to each of his legs, and was only in a position to survive after the opposite children bravely dragged him out of the water and onto some nearby rocks.
They said: ‘We’re heartbroken to share that our son, Nico, has passed away.
‘Nico was a joyful, friendly, and sporty young boy with probably the most kind and generous spirit. He was all the time vigorous and that’s how we’ll remember him.
‘We would love to sincerely thank the primary responders and the teams at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, for every thing they did to take care of Nico.
‘We’d also wish to thank everyone in the neighborhood for his or her support and sort messages.
‘We ask you [to] please respect our privacy during this exceptionally difficult time.’
On Wednesday his parents Lorena and Juan confirmed he was brain dead and wouldn’t get up.
He was just weeks away from celebrating his thirteenth birthday.
Nico’s friend, who dragged him out of the water, described holding him as he was fighting for all times.
He told 7News: ‘He kept fighting and respiration in my arms and he never gave up for a second.
‘He was probably the most stubborn person I do know and I’m grateful I used to be there for his last moments awake.
‘There was a temporary second where Nico woke up while he was bleeding and he just checked out me after which stopped and I believed I lost him, and I’m so surprised he fought for thus long.’
Nico wasn’t the one person to suffer injuries in a shark attack – a surfer was injured within the fourth attack in only 48 hours, shortly after Nico was rushed to the hospital.
A 38-year-old man suffered a ‘wound’ to his chest, medics said, while browsing Tuesday morning.
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