Surfer Giulia Manfrini Killed By Two-Inch Deep Wound From A Swordfish

Italian surfer Giulia Manfrini, 36, was impaled by a swordfish and later died from her wound in Indonesia.

A prominent surfer and public figure, Manfrini’s Instagram page has over 27,000 followers. She helped establish the AWAVE travel agency in 2020.

Manfrini was reportedly surfing in the Mentawai islands, by Masokut Island, when she was stabbed on the left side of her chest by a swordfish that lept out of the water.

AWAVE’s statement read, “We believe she died doing what she loved, in a place that she loved.”

The statement remembered her as the company’s “lifeblood” due to her “Infectious enthusiasm for surf, snow, and life.” 

“Giulia couldn’t travel without people falling in love with her smile, laugh and endless Stoke. Anyone was lucky to have her on board a charter or surf trip.”

The Owner of Hidden Bay Resort Mentawais, Alexandre Ribas, reported that Manfrini had been waiting to catch a wave at the time of the injury. Ribas remembered Manfrini had screamed and then fell off her board. Ribas and other surfers immediately paddled towards her to help, but a big wave, “the biggest of the day,” interrupted the rescue mission. Although surfers were finally able to recover Manfrini’s body and bring her to shore, by that time, she was unresponsive.

Manfrini’s cause of death has not officially been confirmed, but a medical report suggested she died from oxygen deprivation/drowning.

Authorities are working to determine whether there was malicious intent behind the stabbing. Though swordfish stabbings are uncommon in Indonesia, surfing accidents aren’t, and multiple surfers in the area have died in the last year.