Demut und Fleiß

A teenage surfer braved bloodied waters to drag his dying 16-year-old friend to shore after he was mauled by a shark off the NSW north coast.

But Brock Curtis's courage proved in vain, as he watched his mate Peter Edmonds die from massive blood loss on a beach at Ballina.

The shark struck about 8am (AEST) as the two 16-year-old friends took advantage of a teachers' stop-work meeting to go bodyboarding at Ballina's popular Lighthouse Beach.

Peter Edmonds, from Wollongbar west of Ballina, was bitten twice on the left leg as the large shark loomed out of murky water close to the entrance to the Richmond River.

Brock said when he saw his mate in trouble, he paddled out to him.

"As he approached him he saw the water was beginning to turn red," Surf Life Saving NSW spokesman Stephen Leahy said later.

Brock told AAP he saw a "big, grey shadow" pass by him but still paddled toward his stricken friend.

He was not afraid because he did not know what it was.

"In the water I was in line with him (Peter) and noticed that he was in a bit of trouble," he said.

"As I headed towards him it looked like he was catching a wave and was heading back to shore.

"Then I saw him on his back with his head above the water so then he turned so he was face down.

"I thought he was only joking, so I went over to him and as I flipped him over I saw his leg."

Brock dragged Peter to shore and tried in vain to resuscitate him, only for him to die of blood loss.

"He didn't make one noise," he said.

Brock, also from Wollongbar, said the pair had been close friends for five years, since the start of high school.

He said Peter was the "best guy".

Peter Edmonds' distraught family spoke later of the death of "their baby".

"I'm numb. I don't know what to do," his 20-year-old sister Kylie Edmonds said from the family home.

"He was such a good kid.

"He was a really friendly guy. He just did everything for everybody. He just wanted to hang out with his mates and surf and have a good time."

Peter's father Neil Edmonds said it was hard to believe his son had died from seemingly minor injuries.

"We saw the bite on his leg and you wouldn't think that sort of thing would take someone," he told Network Ten.

Detective Inspector Steve Clark praised Brock for going to his friend's aid and said he would be considered for a bravery medal.

"It was an extreme act of bravery to re-enter the water and he's still gone in to retrieve his friend, it's exceptional," Insp Clark said.

Authorities do not yet know what type of shark was involved in the attack, but one expert, Taronga Zoo's John West, said it was probably a bull shark.

The manager of the Ballina Beach Resort, close to the site of the attack, said bull sharks had been seen recently in North Creek, near the Richmond River estuary.

"A local fisherman saw four of five of them," the manager, Sharon, told AAP.

"They are hunters," she said of the bull sharks.

The website marinebio.org says the bull shark is a massive and fearsome shark up to 3.5 metres long with saw-edged upper teeth.

Surfers using Ballina's Lighthouse Beach are warned that sharks are attracted to the mouth of the nearby Richmond River.

Mr West said following recent heavy rain, nutrients flushed out of the river would have attracted schools of fish, in turn bringing sharks to the area.

http://news.smh.com.au/shark-kills-teen-surfer-family-mourns/20080408-24h1.html