The Moana Surf Life Saving Club where Bell competed.
Libby Bell, a champion surf life saver from Adelaide, South Australia’s capital city, took her own life last week after suffering through what her parents and family described as, “a campaign of cyber bullying and physical abuse from peers.”
According to reports, the 13-year-old Bell was named junior life saver of the year for Moana Surf Life Saving Club and the club and its staff were reeling from her death. “We are grieving the sudden and devastating loss of Libby,” said Clare Harris, a chief executive for South Australian Surf Life Saving. “Staff and volunteers … stand with her family, friends and our members as we pull together to support each other.”
Life saving clubs and competitive water sports based off of lifeguard skills and training techniques are extremely popular in Australia and include pursuits like running, swimming, surfing, prone paddleboarding and surfski paddling.
Libby Bell was just 13. Photo: The Advertiser
Among several incidents, the young surfer was apparently filmed during a bullying incident last year at a fast-food restaurant. Her parents issued a response following Bell’s death, pleading with other parents to step in sooner, rather than later. “We understand schoolyard behavior and what starts off as pointless teasing and ridicule which can soon escalate. So please, as a parent, hold your babies tight and for the teenagers, we plead for you kids to talk and walk tall.”
Bullying and especially cyber bullying have come into the spotlight in the last few years because of the rise of such behavior on different social media platforms. ESPN kicked off an anti-bullying campaign during last winter’s X Games in Aspen tagged ‘Shred Hate,’ and have continued to push the campaign to help raise awareness.
