Italian tourist mauled by shark loses leg, film captures attack

A 20-year-old Italian tourist filmed the gruesome moment a shark attacked him as he screamed for help, fearing he would die while snorkelling off Queensland’s coast. Warning: graphic.

Tommaso Agosti helped pull Matteo Mariotti from the water. Picture: Instagram

An Italian tourist who lost his leg to a “monster” shark off a Queensland beach said he did not believe he would survive the attack.

Matteo Mariotti, 20, from Parma in northern Italy, was snorkelling at 1770 Beach, on the state’s central coast, last Friday when his leg was mauled by a shark.

“I wanted to say goodbye,” he said on social media.

“I never thought I’d survive that monster.”

The marine biology student said he went to the beach to clear his head after his grandfather had died.

Mr Mariotti, who was recording his swim in action, captured the moment the shark latched on to his leg and began to pull him away from the shore.

“I lost a lot of blood and my leg … I don’t know if they’ll cut it off entirely or if it will stay in half but it doesn’t matter now.”

The footage shows Mr Mariotti in a bloodbath after getting bitten, frantically swimming back to shore, screaming for help as he waited for the shark’s return.

Matteo Mariotti. Picture: Instagram.

His friend, Tommaso Agosti, helped pull him from the water and attempted to stop the bleeding.

“You are my hero, you are giving me the strength to carry on with your messages and calls, my only dream is to see you again,” Mr Mariotti said.

“[Tommaso] I owe you my life. I’ll come home, I love you.”

Mr Agosti carried his wounded friend to shore, where a Central Queensland rescue helicopter then airlifted him to hospital in Brisbane.

Sharing an update from his hospital bed, Mr Mariotti revealed that he had lost his leg and said he believed he had a guardian angel that day.

“I no longer have a leg, but I’m alive, my grandfather protected me,” he said.

A GoFundMe has already raised at least $82,000 for Mariotti, who did not have insurance and faces a hefty bill for his treatment in Australia.