The 13-year-old who was attacked and killed while surfing off of Reunion Island on Sunday afternoon left his mother a note stating that he would not enter the water unless shark spotters were patrolling the area.
“Don’t worry, Mom,” Elio wrote. “I’m going surfing. If there’s no security, I won’t surf.”
Elio’s grieving father Giovanni Canestri told the French commercial radio RTL that his son had “always been very careful” in the waters off the west coast of the island where he and his family live. “He was someone who always listened to his parents. He analyzed danger intelligently. He was a competitor.” Using the family’s nickname for the boy, Elio’s father added, “Titi was devoured by his passion. Fate decided one day to take him away and he is gone.”
Police stand over the body of Elio Canestri shortly after the attack. Photo: : Mirror.co.uk
Jean Luc Arassus, the French Surfing Federation president, stated that it was “impossible to blame the young boy” for what happened. “Despite the ban in place and the instructions of his coach, how could one forbid a young boy of 13 from pursuing his passion when one lives on an island surrounded by the ocean and these magnificent waves. Surfing is part of the DNA of Reunion [and] is an uncontrollable passion,” he continued. “You cannot ban it.”
The area was off limits to swimmers and surfers at the time of the attack unless spotters were in place due to sixteen shark attacks that had occurred in the last four years – seven of which were fatal. Whether or not patrollers were in place at the time of the attack is still unclear.
In Elio’s honor, friends posted a video tribute and created a Facebook page to remember the surfing champion. “A simple tribute or a way to imagine what the waves look like where it is located. Ride in peace,” friends expressed on Facebook.
Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Elio, along with the entire surfing community of Reunion.
