Laeticia Brouwer’s uncle said she died ‘doing something that she loved’ after she was the third person in a year killed by a shark in WA

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The uncle of a 17-year-old girl killed by a shark while surfing in WA’s south says the family is heartbroken.

Laeticia Brouwer died after suffering major blood loss when her left leg was bitten off by a shark, believed to be a great white. Her injuries were so severe that she was already in a critical condition when an ambulance arrived, according to the first paramedic on the scene.

Laeticia’s uncle Steve Evans said the family was “terribly heartbroken and saddened by this tragic accident”.

“We take comfort in the fact that Laeticia died doing something that she loved,” he told reporters in Esperance. “The ocean was her and her family’s passion. Surfing was something that she treasured doing with her dad and her sisters. Laeticia will be greatly missed by her family, friends and everyone who knew her.

“We take comfort in the fact that she’s now in Heaven with the Lord in eternal peace.”

The teen, from the Mandurah suburb of Singleton, was surfing with her dad during an Easter family holiday. She is the third shark attack fatality in WA in less than a year.

Paramedic Paul Gaughan said medical staff tried to stabilise her as best they could. Family members and a nurse who was at the beach performed first aid and applied a tourniquet.

“They really gave the young girl every possible chance under such dire circumstances for a positive outcome,” he told reporters.

“Unfortunately, in this case the injuries were just too severe.”

She was mauled at the popular surf break Kelp Beds, near Wylie Bay, in Esperance just before 4pm on Monday as her mother and two sisters watched in horror from the beach.

Esperance police acting senior sergeant Ben Jeffes said the girl was a competent surfer and denied the terrain made rescue efforts difficult.

“The sand didn’t slow us down or present any unusual problems for this incident,” he said.

Fisheries regional manager Russell Adams confirmed drumlines would not be deployed, but denied the beach was a particularly dangerous spot.

“It’s no more dangerous than swimming off Rottnest,” he said.

The beach at Wylie Bay remained closed on Tuesday and the Department of Fisheries is conducting beach and water patrols.

Surfers and swimmers have been told not to go into the water for at least two days.



In June last year, shark attacks resulted in the deaths of surfer Ben Gerring at Mandurah and diver Doreen Collyer at Mindarie Marina in Perth.





Authorities have so far failed to identify the shark that bit the leg of a 17-year-old Western Australian girl, who died on Tuesday after suffering major blood loss.

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Esperance police acting senior sergeant Ben Jeffes said the girl was a competent surfer. Her broken surfboard has been recovered and will be analysed to determine what kind of shark it was.

“What we have now are the debris which make a complete board,” Jeffes told ABC radio on Tuesday. It will be sent to scientists at the Department of Fisheries for examination.

“There’s a real sense of sadness and loss in the community here, it’s just terrible,” Jeffes said.

Professional local fisherman Neville Mansted said it was a tragedy.

“There’s a lot of people in shock,” he told local Perth radio 6PR. “It was one of my favourite surf spots but I think I might be crossing it off the list, together with a few other places.”

The Shark Smart WA website recorded two public shark sightings in the Esperance area last week.

A medium-sized white shark was seen 150m offshore at Two Mile Beach in Hopetoun and another was seen 300m offshore at Crazies Reef.

“The fact that there was a couple of sightings out there during the week, and with Easter coming on, I can’t believe that somebody hasn’t done something, like a fisheries patrol,” Mansted said. “Trouble is, nobody seems to be interested because it’s not them that’s being bitten. That’s the tragic part.”

Mansted said WA needed shark nets.

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The fatal attack has revived debate about measures to protect the public from sharks in WA. The fisheries minister, Dave Kelly, confirmed drum lines were not deployed following the attack, because the new Labor government did not believe they made beaches safer.

“The fact that drum lines weren’t deployed this morning, I think you can safely say, was a result of the change in policy from the election,” the West Australian reported him as saying.

“We made it clear in opposition that we don’t see the merit in automatically deploying drum lines in these circumstances. This morning the beach is closed, the beach is clear, there’s no one in the water. It’s a reasonably remote location so there is no purpose served this morning by deploying drum lines.”

The Esperance shire president, Victoria Brown, said she had been inundated with people asking how they could help.

In June last year, shark attacks resulted in the deaths of surfer Ben Gerring at Mandurah and diver Doreen Collyer at Mindarie Marina in Perth.

In 2014, Sean Pollard lost his right hand and left arm above the elbow.