Father and son who tried to rescue Khai Cowley relive fatal attack on Yorke Peninsula
They’re the father-son pair who tried to save the life of shark attack victim Khai Cowley. Now, they’re reliving the tragedy for the first time.
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The brave father and son who ran into shark-infested waters after teen surfer Khai Cowley was fatally attacked have relived the tragedy for the first time.
The 15-year-old died after being mauled by a shark while surfing at Ethel Beach on the Yorke Peninsula in December 2023, while his dad Tim Cowley looked on from the shore.
Speaking to Shark Watch SA, amid an increase in shark sightings along SA’s coastline, father and son Tim and Jai Philip recounted the ordeal after getting permission from the Cowley family.
The duo, along with some other family members and friends, arrived at the popular surf spot around midday – sharing a laugh with Khai in the water.
“He was paddling out and I made a bit of a joke to the boys and had a bit of a laugh, we all smiled at each other,” Jai said.
“It was just a normal interaction coming out into the surf, you just have a bit of a laugh.”
But it wasn’t long until those laughs turned to shock, with the shark attacking just as the Philip family were packing up for the day.
“We got in the car and just as we were about to leave, I looked up and saw splashing, something was obviously going on,” Jai said.
“Someone in the carpark started yelling, a lady started yelling ‘I think something’s happened, something’s happened. Someone do something’,” Tim adds.
The two surfers kicked into action, with Tim sprinting into the ocean while Jai relayed information to his dad on the location of the shark and Khai.
“I felt that I needed to make my way down to the beach pretty quick, so I started to run down a set of wooden stairs,” Tim said.
“And there would be an 80 to 100 metre run across the soft sand over into the corner where you surf, the cove of the beach – that’s where Khai was and also his dad.”
Despite the shark still in the area, Tim grabbed a stranger’s board and paddled out to Khai, dragging his body back to shore.
“I was just thinking ‘I need to get there to help’.
“In my mind, I was thinking ‘We’ve got to get him out of the water and we’ve got to get him back to the beach.’
The horrifying incident not only rocked the two, but the wider South Australian surfing community.
“Something like that’s happened and it was a big thing for us to process, as well as everyone else who was affected by it.
“It wasn’t just us or our family, there were other people there that day.”
The full interview with the pair will be released on Tuesday.
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