A 12-year-old boy bitten by a shark in Australia’s Sydney Harbour has died of his injuries, his family said on Saturday.
Nico Antic’s parents said their son died of the injuries suffered when a large shark attacked him last week as he and his friends were jumping into the water.
“We are heartbroken to share that our son, Nico, has passed away,” Lorena and Juan Antic said in a statement.
At the time of the attack, the children were leaping into the water off a six-metre (20-foot) rock in the eastern Sydney suburb of Vaucluse.
Recent heavy rain had drained into the harbour, turning the water murky, police said.
Antic was suffering from heavy bleeding when he was pulled into a police boat and taken to hospital in critical condition.
“Nico was a happy, friendly, and sporty young boy with the most kind and generous spirit. He was always full of life and that’s how we’ll remember him,” his parents said.
The Sydney shark attack that eventually killed Antic was one of four recorded in the span of two days, which prompted officials to close dozens of the city’s beaches.
It was Sydney’s third recent shark-related death.
In September, a great white shark mauled surfer Mercury Psillakis to death at a popular northern Sydney ocean beach.
Two months later, a bull shark killed a woman swimming off a remote beach north of Sydney.
Australian scientists believe increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures are swaying sharks’ migratory patterns, which may be contributing to a rise in attacks.
