Shocking video shows the marine biology student struggling to reach the surface as a shark attempts to pull him underwater.
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Matteo Mariotti, a 20-year-old Italian studying marine biology in Australia, shared distressing images of the attack he endured on his social media, depicting his struggle to reach the surface while a shark tries to pull him down. After a prolonged battle, he is seen screaming for help as he desperately tries to reach the shore.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper Gazetta di Parma, Mariotti mentioned that he went to the beach to clear his mind after learning about his grandfather’s death. He explained that he had a small camera to film fish, “but after a few steps in the water, I felt a terrible pain in my foot.” That was the beginning of the attack.
“The shark started dragging me into the sea until at a certain point, I managed to grab its head with my hands,” Mariotti recounted. “I tried to widen that big mouth and with difficulty freed my leg, although from the knee down, I realized that nothing was left.” The student then did everything he could to get rid of the animal: “I screamed in fear that the shark would catch up with me, shouted for help from my friend, who was on the beach.”
Tommaso Agosti, Mariotti’s friend, manages to reach him and pulls him out while a bloodstain spreads in the water. Agosti then screams for help while trying to stop the bleeding with an improvised tourniquet. Mariotti mentioned in his post that his friend put him on his shoulders and ran to get help.
In an online fundraiser created by Mariotti, he mentioned that despite their efforts, they couldn’t save one of his legs, which was amputated below the knee. The student revealed that he never thought he would survive the attack: “I never thought I would survive that monster,” he wrote. “Tommaso saved my life,” he said about his friend.