Photo: Giulia Manfrini // Instagram
Italian surfer Giulia Manfrini, 36, tragically died after being impaled in the chest by a needlefish in the Mentawai Islands. The incident happened on Friday, October 18, while she was surfing the Beng Bengs surf break.
The incident was witnessed by Alexandre Ribas, one of the owners of Hidden Bay Resort Mentawais, where Manfrini was staying with fellow Italian surfer Massimo Ferro. According to Ribas, Manfrini was waiting for a wave when she was struck on the left side of her chest by a needlefish. She screamed, which caught the attention of the other surfers at the peak, then fell off her board. The other surfers immediately paddled over to help, but were swept away by a large set, which Ribas describes as four waves that were “perhaps the biggest of the day.” Ribas went on to describe Giulia’s final moments, saying, “The surfers who helped her said that there was a lot of blood and that, as the waves approached, she took one last look and fainted just before they hit her.”
The surfers eventually managed to get Manfrini to the beach and attempted to revive her, but she was unresponsive.
“I was on the boat with her boyfriend [Ferro], when I realized something was wrong and I jumped into the water with my board and paddled towards the group,” wrote Ribas. “I noticed that she was already on the beach and when I got there she was already unconscious. We tried to revive her, but to no avail. Soon our boat reached the beach and we took Giulia to the hospital in the village of Peipei. When we got there, the doctor in charge told us that she was already lifeless and that nothing could be done.” He added that, “Here, we attach great importance to safety and try to be prepared for any emergency as far as possible, like radio and medical first aid kit at our speedboats, even in a remote location. But in this case, I don’t think any measures could have saved her life.”
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This is not the first time a person has been impaled by a fish in the region, though deaths are extremely rare. In 2020, Muhammad Idul, 16, was impaled in the neck by a 30-inch-long needlefish while fishing with a friend in South Buton, South East Sulawesi. Idul managed to survive the incident after a frantic swim to shore and 90-minute drive to a nearby hospital, all with the fish still in his neck.
In 2023, Australian surfer Steve Kezik was impaled in the face by a garfish while surfing at the Playground Surf Resort in the Mentawais.
In fact, another surfer was struck by a needlefish the very next day after Manfrini was killed. Ribas recounted that Brazilian surfer Itamar Guimaraes was hit by a needlefish on his right arm in Uluwatu, Bali, but managed to survive by using his board as a shield to protect himself.
Officials are currently undergoing the process of repatriating Manfrini’s body.
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