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’ve revealed how close they were to another disaster.

The heroic father and son who helped drag teen surfer Khai Cowley to shore after he was mauled by a shark have revealed how close they came to being attacked.

The 15-year-old died after being attacked by a four-metre great white shark while surfing at Ethel Beach on the Yorke Peninsula in December 2023.

Tim and Jai Philip were just about to leave the beach after sharing some waves with Khai when another beachgoer sounded the alarm.

Surfer Khai Cowley, 15, who was fatally attacked by a shark at Ethel Beach in South Australia's Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park, on the York Peninsula. Picture: Supplied

“A lady started yelling ‘I think something’s happened, something’s happened. Someone do something’,” Tim says.

The father-of-two fearlessly raced onto the beach and paddled out into the water, while his son attempted to keep eyes on the shark.

“I just saw this big fish emerge out of the reef and realised straight away it was a huge great white shark,” Jai says.

“I think I just froze for a second.

Tim and Jai Philip tried to save 15-year-old surfer Khai Cowley after he was attacked by a shark at Ethel Beach on Yorke Peninsula. Picture: Supplied

“It wasn’t in a hurry to get to where Khai and Dad were, it was moving quite slowly so that was quite eerie, just not knowing where its next move was going to be.

“As it got closer, it kind of started to do a circle around Dad and Khai.

“I was nearly convinced that I was going to have to watch that shark have a go at Dad.”

Not knowing how close the shark was, Tim fearlessly dragged Khai closer to shore on a stranger’s surfboard.

Ethel Beach in South Australia where 15-year-old surfer Khai Cowley was fatally attacked by a shark. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ben Clark

“I paddled out to him and then obviously on arriving at him I got to see the extent of his injury, and at that point it was more of a case of ‘Okay I need to get him back to land.’,” he says.

“At that point the unimaginable happened, Jai started yelling, the other people on the beach started yelling to get out of there.

“I managed to get him to a point where the waves had just started to break, which was positive.

“A couple of waves helped kind of push him in and then got me in as well.”

It was only once they had got Khai to shore that Tim realised how close the shark had come.

Khai is remembered as a loving son and brother. Picture: Facebook

“I’m imagining in my head they’ve seen it 20-30 metres up the beach somewhere and I’ve got plenty of time,” he says.

“It wasn’t until later on running back up the beach with Jai … he was like ‘Dad it was a metre and a half behind you’.

The father and son relived the frightening encounter on a podcast with Shark Watch SA, which will be released tomorrow, after getting permission from the Cowley family.

Originally published as Father and son who tried to rescue Khai Cowley relive fatal attack on Yorke Peninsula