‘Fiercely loyal, endlessly generous’ young father named as victim of Rottnest Island shark attack

A father of two young daughters, husband and avid fisher has been identified as the victim of a fatal shark attack at Rottnest Island in Western Australia. Steven Mattaboni, 38, a surveyor from Perth, was in the water at Horseshoe Reef about 9.55am on Saturday when he was believed to have been bitten by a shark, police said. He was taken by boat to shore at Geordie Bay on the north side of the island where he was met by paramedics but was unable to be revived. A rescue helicopter had landed on the island, 19km off the coast of Fremantle, to evacuate Mattaboni to hospital on the mainland. In a statement on Sunday, his wife, Shirene Mattaboni, a clinical nurse specialist, said Steven was a “devoted father” to his daughters, one of whom turns three next month and one of whom is a four-month-old baby. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email “Our hearts are irrevocably broken by the loss of Steven, known affectionately to his mates as Mattas,” she said in the statement, provided to media outlets. “An avid fisherman and spearfisherman, who lived and breathed the ocean, he was always in tune with the sea. “He was fiercely loyal, endlessly generous, and the kind of man who would give you the shirt off his back.” His wife said the world had lost a “one-of-a-kind gentleman, and our daughters have lost an incredible father far too soon”. …