A 12-year-old boy has died in hospital after being attacked by a shark in Sydney Harbour last weekend, his family confirmed on Jan. 24, 2026. The boy, identified in the AP story as Nico Antic, had been fighting for his life since the Jan. 18 attack at a harbour beach in Vaucluse, in Sydney's east. According to the packet, he had been bitten on both legs and was in critical condition from the moment he reached the hospital.
The family's statement made clear how sudden and devastating the loss was. They described him as happy, friendly, sporty and full of life, and thanked first responders as well as the Sydney Children's Hospital team in Randwick for the care they gave him. The same report says he was part of the North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club's Nippers program and had been awarded most improved for under-11 boys in 2024. That background underscored how close the tragedy was to the family and community around him.
Police said friends rushed to help after the attack, with at least one person jumping into the water to pull him to safety. Supt. Joe McNulty told the AP that the shark was thought to have been a bull shark. NSW police said a report would be prepared for the coroner. The source places the attack outside the shark net enclosure near Shark Beach at Nielsen Park, a detail that helps explain why the incident drew so much attention from swimmers and safety officials.
The boy's death also came amid an unusual run of shark bites on the New South Wales coast. The AP reported that this was the first of four shark bites in 48 hours. Another 11-year-old had a surfboard bitten at Dee Why, a 27-year-old man was bitten while surfing in Manly and a 39-year-old man was bitten at Point Plomer on the state's mid-north coast. Authorities responded by closing nearly 30 Sydney beaches and cancelling swimming events.
Experts quoted in the story linked the burst of activity to intense rainfall that flushed dirty water onto the coast and beaches, while the state's shark management program was boosted in December by $2.5 million for SMART drumlines and drone patrols at 50 beaches during school holidays. All of that is part of the same verified picture: a fatal attack, a rapid sequence of other bites and a public safety response that left many local swimmers uneasy about returning to the water.
