A hero snorkeller has told how he battled with a giant tiger shark before it mauled his EU diplomat friend to death in front of him while the pair holidayed in Egypt.
Gianluca Di Gioia, 48, from Rome, had been snorkeling at a beach located in front of the glamorous Red Sea Sataya Resort on the coast of Marsa Alam, before he was struck.
With him, was his pal Peppino Fappani, the sole survivor of the brutal attack who managed to escape after fighting off the beast.
Speaking to Corriere Della Serra, Fappani’s daughter, Cristina, recounted a phone call conversation she had with her father following the ordeal, which saw him hospitalised with deep bite wounds to his legs and arms.
‘I heard Gianluca scream ‘Help! Help!’, I thought he had been struck by an illness and was having difficulty getting back to shore, so I started swimming toward him’, Fappani recalled, as he continued to detail the hand-to-hand fight to his daughter.
The 69-year-old said: ‘Cristina, I didn’t realise that there was a shark that had attacked Gianluca , also because I didn’t see the shark, at least until I felt it bite my legs.
‘The shark bit me and didn’t let go even though I fought to the point of exhaustion to get it off me’.
Following the arduous and intense battle with the predator, Fappani explained that he managed to get away a ‘series of wounds to his legs and an arm’, bites that required ‘numerous stitches and a prophylaxis that will probably last until after New Year’.
Di Gioia was in the sea alongside his friend Giuseppe Fappani, 69, pictured left. His wife is pictured right
EU official Gianluca Di Gioia is the victim of a shark attack in Marsa Alam on the Red Sea
The tragic incident took place at a beach in front of the Sataya Resort – one of the most glamorous on the coast of Marsa Alam, on the Red Sea
But despite his heroic efforts, the tiger shark had set its eyes on Di Gioia and mauled him to death in front of his distraught friend and their wives, who watched on helplessly from a nearby pier.
Fappani’s wife yesterday recalled the brutal attack to the newspaper after she witnessed the bloody horror unfold.
She said she saw her husband swim towards Di Gioia in a desperate bid to scare away the shark before the beast sank its teeth into his arms and legs.
Then in a stunning moment, Fappani reportedly managed to push the beast away for a brief moment before it furiously made its return.
From the shore, as soon as she saw the pair in danger, Di Gioia’s wife, Laurence, who was also watching from the pier, ‘shouted for help and a dinghy left the beach’.
According to Cristina, her father ‘probably owes his life to some Egyptians who approached with a dinghy, managing to push the shark away’.
The team then hoisted his wounded body on board and dashed him back to the beach.
‘Now my parents are just waiting to be able to return to Italy. It was a terrible experience,’ she added.
The victim, Di Gioia, who worked at the European External Action Service, the diplomatic service of the European Union, had travelled to Egypt with his family and friends to celebrate his recent birthday and the New Year.
But the tragic incident took place as he and Fappani swam just 50metres from the beach in an area where the luxury resort’s jetty allows tourists to access beyond the coral reef.
The pair were then rushed to a hospital in Port Ghalib where Di Gioia tragically passed away, and where Fappani is expected to be discharged from today.
Fappani ‘was moving in shallow waters’ his wife reiterated yesterday to the mayor of Soncino Giuseppe Gallina who now, referring to his ‘rather reserved’ citizen, speaks of a ‘heroic gesture’.
Di Gioia was reportedly attacked by a tiger shark while he was snorkeling
Di Gioia had been swimming just 50metres from the beach in an area where the resort’s jetty allows tourists to access beyond the coral reef
The Italian tourist’s injuries to his arms and legs were so severe, it was not known whether he would survive the attack
‘Ours is a small town of 7,500 inhabitants. We are all proud of him, we await him with open arms,’ he said.
The victim’s wife and son, who were also present at the resort, were placed under the care of tour operator Alpitour and the Italian embassy, to receive the necessary support following the attack.
Egyptian authorities have opened an investigation into the ‘anomalous’ incident, with the while the Ministry of the Environment and the Red Sea Governorate begin a series of investigations to reconstruct what happened.
The attack – according to The Quasir Prosecutor’s Office – occurred ‘in deep waters outside the bathing area’, that is, beyond the coral reef, which should prevent or at least make it more difficult for sharks to access the area near the beach.
‘Such incidents usually occur in spring or summer,’ said one of the local authorities following the case, emphasising the rarity of a shark attack this season.
Following the shocking incident, authorities have closed the pier and the stretch of sea where the EU diplomat was killed.
It is now also likely that the Rome Prosecutor’s Office will also open an investigation, and according to Corriere Della Sera, that Fappani may also be questioned by the Carabinieri.
Di Gioia was originally from Rome, but had been living in France where he worked for the European External Action Service (EEAS) of the EU for twelve years.
He had arrived in Marsa Alam on December 11 to celebrate his birthday – December 21 – with his wife and several family members and friends.
According to local reports, he had been planning to stay in Egypt until the New Year before the attack.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
