The brother of a spearfisher mauled by a shark said he watched his ‘best mate’ die in his arms from horrific injuries.
Matthew Tratt, 36, was attacked by a by a suspected great white shark on Fraser Island on Saturday afternoon while spear fishing with his brother Rob Tratt.
Mr Tratt managed to drag his brother up onto rocks on the headland where bystanders and an off-duty doctor and nurse tried to revive him for nearly an hour.
Other fishermen helped pull him from the water and applied a tourniquet to his badly mauled left leg before paramedics arrived.
Mr Tratt watched his brother bleed to death, but said Matt died doing what he loved.
‘My brother, he died in my arms, doing his favourite passion – spearfishing. And I don’t think I could’ve been with a better person,’ he told 9News.
Rob Tratt’s (pictured) brother Matthew, 36, died in his arms after being mauled by a shark while spearfishing on Fraser Island on Saturday
Matthew Tratt (right), 36, was attacked by a by a suspected great white shark at Fraser Island on Saturday afternoon while spear fishing with his brother. Pictured with his wife Kayla
‘He’s an outdoors man and a family man … he lived a good life and went out in spectacular style.’
Mr Tratt said he looked away for a split second before Matthew was attacked by the shark.
‘I actually dived down … and I couldn’t dive down deep enough, I’m inexperienced, I can only hold my breath for about nine seconds or something,’ he said.
‘He was just laying on the bottom and I looked away for a second and next thing you know it’s all happening.’
Mr Tratt said he didn’t realise there had been a shark attacked until they surfaced and Matthew told him.
‘He just said to me, ‘there’s been a shark attack’ and I said ‘are you okay?’,’ Mr Tratt said.
Before the attack, a fisherman asked the pair how they could get in knowing sharks were abundant in the area.
‘If I thought about it, I’d probably just get too scared and not go in the water. We entered those waters fully knowing the risks, it’s just part of life,’ Mr Tratt said.
Mr Tratt, an air-conditioning contractor from Buderim, leaves behind two children and his wife Kayla (right)
Matthew Tratt and his brother Rob Tratt were spearfishing off Indian Head (pictured) on Fraser Island at about 2pm on Saturday
An ambulance emergency team was winched down by a rescue chopper, but Mr Tratt’s injuries were too severe and he died at the scene
The brothers and their families were visiting Fraser Island after their holiday abroad was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
‘We were supposed to do a holiday to Bali and all that, so when they opened up the doors to a bit of travel we decided we were going to hit Fraser Island as a family,’ Mr Tratt said.
‘Me and my brother and his two kids and our wives. We were out there just enjoying ourselves. Holiday of a lifetime … Really was.’
Mr Tratt said despite the horrific incident, his brother wouldn’t have supported shark culling.
‘We entered those waters fully knowing the risks, it’s just part of life,’ he said.
Matthew, an air-conditioning contractor from Buderim on the Sunshine Coast, leaves behind two children and his wife Kayla.
Matthew’s friend Wayne Stievano and fishing buddy said he wished he could have been there to save him.
‘Still can’t believe you’re gone Matthew Tratt,’ he posted on Facebook.
‘You were taken way too early, you always had my back in the water, I only wish I could have been there today to have yours.
‘We love you and miss you buddy, until we meet again, rest easy mate.’
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk described the death as ‘brutal’ and paid her condolences to his family.
Matthew Tratt, 36, was attacked by a shark off Indian Head at about 2pm on Saturday while spear fishing with his brother. Pictured with his widow Kayla
‘It’s once again a reminder that, especially around that Fraser Island area, it is home to a lot of sharks, and great whites,’ she said in Sunday.
Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour said the local community was deeply saddened by the tragedy.
‘This a tremendously sad day for our community,’ Mr Seymour wrote on Facebook.
‘Our deepest condolences go to this young man’s family and friends.
‘The loss of a young life with his future before him is a tragedy beyond words and we share their sadness and grief.’
It is Australia’s fourth fatal shark attack this year.
Last month, Gold Coast surfer Rob Pedretti, 60, died after he was mauled by the three-metre white shark at Salt Beach at South Kingscliff in northern NSW.
A shark also killed 23-year-old Queensland wildlife ranger Zachary Robba in April off North West Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef.
Experienced diver Gary Johnson, 57, was killed by a shark near Cull Island in Esperance on Western Australia’s south coast in January.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Matthew Tratt, 36, leaves behind two children and his wife Kayla (pictured)