Surfer Dies After Shark Attack

Shark Attack

Matthew Garcia and his friend were surfing on Friday. At some point, his friend was body-boarding and he was left a little behind. Garcia heard a desperate cry for help coming from his friend.

Apparently, in just a few seconds, a shark came out water and bit his friend’s leg. The shark pulled him under the water in the northern coast of Santa Barbara. “When the shark hit him, he just said, ‘Help me, dude!’ He knew what was going on,” said Garcia in a statement.

Garcia tried to find his friend, Lucas Ransom, 19, but a huge wave broke over his head. Garcia then decided to get some help from the shore, but before that he turned around swimming to the shore. He saw Ransom’s red body-board coming out of the water. He tried to swim to his friend and help him, hoping that he is still alive. He did chest compressions when he brought him to the shore.

The University of California-Santa Barbara junior was from Riverside County. When he was brought to the shore, his friends saw his severe wound to his left leg. Unfortunately, Ransom died a short time later on Surf Beach. The beach is 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The beach area is on the property of Vandenberg Air Force Base, but the public has access to it.

The County Sheriff’s deputies recovered the body-board. They declared that it had a 1-foot segment on the side bitten off by the shark. The authorities closed the Surf Beach for at least 72 hours. Two other beaches nearby were also closed. The Federal and state Fish and Game officials are trying to identify what type of shark attacked Ransom. The officials said that based on its behavior and the massive injury made to Ransom, the shark was probably a great white.

The ocean seemed calm and beautiful before the attack occurred. There were large waves and the two friends were tracking them all week. Garcia said that he and Lucas moved down the West Coast from Alaska.

Garcia, 20, said that the shark looked like it was 18 feet long. “There was no sign, there was nothing. It was all very fast, very stealth,’’ said Garcia. The two young men were best friends at Perris High School in Riverside County. They were both on the water polo team and also in the swim team at the school. Garcia said that it was the first time when they were at that beach.