British expat mauled to death by great white shark in Australia

A WIFE watched in horror as her husband was attacked by a Great White shark in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.

The couple, who had been married for 24 years and were originally from Warwickshire, had emigrated to Australia in 2000 and both had businesses in Byron Bay.

Paul Wilcox, 51, who was a passionate swimmer and a member of the Byron Bay Swimming Club was out swimming in the bay at around 11.30am when the shark attacked, mauling his right leg.

A passer-by on the beach, managed to pull him out of the water and performed CPR on him for 20 to 30 minutes but did not manage to save him.

NSW Ambulance paramedic Andrew Chapman said the man was bitten above the knee. “It was a fatal bite with major blood loss. He probably died in the water because there was no blood loss on the beach,” he told News Corp Australia.

His wife Victoria was on the beach, about 20 metres away from the incident when it happened.  

The couple had relocated from the UK ‘to realise our dream and move to the beautiful hills of Byron Bay.’

Byron Bay is known as ‘absolutely a hot spot’ for potential shark attacks due to schools of bait fish there are in the area.

The shark will  not be destroyed as the Great White shark is a protected species in Australia.

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