Revere Man Dies from Shark Attack on Cape

Friends and family are mourning the loss of Revere resident Arthur Medici, 26, after he was bitten by a shark in

The late Arthur Medici.

Wellfleet and died on Saturday.

The attack happened off Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet around 12:15 p.m. Medici, of Beachland Avenue, was an active boogie-boarder and was on his board with his future brother-in-law Isaac Rocha nearby, riding the waves about 30 feet off shore when a great white shark came from behind and bit him. He was wearing a wetsuit and swim fins. Medici’s femoral arteries were severed when the back of his legs and the calves were bit and he bleed to death. His friend and another bystander and park ranger pulled him on to the beach where CPR was performed.

Medici was taken to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, where he was pronounced dead, according to State Police spokesman David Procopio.

According to his Facebook page, Medici was an engineering student at Bunker Hill Community College and he had worked for the Capital Grill in Burlington, but was recently working for a pizzaria. He was a native of Brazil and lived in Revere for the last four years. He was also engaged to be married.

He loved life, he was an active member of the Maranatha Church on Broadway in Revere, devoting his life to the Lord. He participated in the praise group and was very involved in all of the church activities, according to his friend Tiago Silva.

“He was always joyful and willing to help others, even going as far as feeding the homeless. He was happily engaged to a smart, kind-hearted medical student with a bright future. Our lives are never going to be the same without him. His laughter filled our home and he will be greatly missed by us all,” Silva said.

This is the first fatal shark attack since 1936.

Massachusetts last logged a fatal shark attack on July 25, 1936, when 16-year-old Joseph C. Troy, was attacked off Hollywood Beach in Mattapoisett by a 6-foot shark that seized his left leg and dragged him underwater, according to reports.

After the tragedy, Newcomb Hollow Beach was closed to swimming. Wellfleet Police and State Police from the Cape and Islands Detective Unit are investigating, Procopio said.

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, which has been conducting research into the sharks in our area for years, offered its “sincere condolences to the family of the victim, and all who witnessed or were affected by the tragic incident.”

Monday night the City Council held a moment of silence for Medici.

Medici will be buried in Brazil and a Go Fund Me page has been established to bring him back to Brazil where his mother and father live. So far $29,000 has been raised.

A vigil and funeral service were to be held tonight (Wednesday, September 19) at Family United Methodist Church in Saugus.

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