Aimee Walker
A British man has been ‘killed by a shark’ while swimming at Port Beach near Perth.
Paul Millachip, 57, was a regular swimmer at the beach and it’s been reported he was originally from London.
His wife, who doesn’t want to be named, was also at the beach with the couple’s children.
Teenager Loses Leg And Fingers After Being Dragged Under Water By Shark
She paid tribute to her husband, saying: “Rest in peace, Paul. He died [doing] what he enjoyed doing the most, which was exercising.
“He was a wonderful man, a wonderful father, and he loved his exercise.”
Four teenage boys witnessed the attack from a nearby dingy and have been praised for urging people to get out of the water and raising the alarm.
His wife continued: “A special mention to those young lads in the boat for what they did in what must have been an absolutely terrifying experience for them, so my heart goes out to them and I thank them for what they did.
“I also just wanted to say thank you to all of our friends here in Perth for all the support and love that you’ve shown us and that’s really appreciated because both of our families are overseas and obviously we’ve been talking to them as well, but it’s hard because they may not be able to travel here to be with us.”
A search mission for the swimmer was called off after a pair of goggles were found.
The 57-year-old’s partner thanked them, saying: “We’ve been through in quite a lot of detail what they’ve been doing and how the search has panned out, and they’ve been extremely thorough and extremely professional and we’re really, really grateful for that.
“I wanted to thank also the eyewitnesses, there’s a number of eyewitnesses who have given very, very valuable accounts and that’s helped piece together what’s happened, so we can be very clear that it was actually Paul involved.
“It came out of the blue. But it did happen, you just have to deal with it.”
The beach has been reopened, with a fishing boat patrolling the area, and visitors have been advised to ‘remain vigilant’.
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