SHARK attack victim Kyle Burden, 21, of Wilyabrup had a brush with death just a week before he was killed Sunday while bodyboarding at Bunker Bay near Dunsborough.
He told the owner of a Margaret River vehicle repair business last Friday that he fell asleep at the wheel of his dark blue Kia Sportage and ran off the road approaching Bunbury, while returning from Perth at 3am on Saturday, August 27.
The repairman, who did not want his name or his business identified, said Mr Burden “seemed a nice young surfer”.
“He told me he ran off the road, missed a bunch of trees, hit three culverts and came to rest between two trees. I told him he was very lucky (to be alive),” the repairman said.
While Mr Burden was uninjured, his car suffered damage to its front suspension, steering, wheel rims and tyres. A friend helped him recover it on a trailer and towed it to the repair business in the Margaret River Light Industrial Area on Monday last week.
“We had a look at it, ordered the parts in, fixed it Friday and gave it back to him,” the repairman said. “When I heard that a young surfer from Wilyabrup had been taken by a shark, I was pretty certain it was him.”
His mother Sharon – a Brisbane performance psychologist who coincidently works with fatigued drivers – flew in on Monday and visited Bunker Bay at sunrise yesterday with her mother Peggy and brother Derek Burden.
Later, in front of the Bunker Bay cafe, Mrs Burden said her son was “livin’ the dream”. She spoke of a Sydney boy who “fell in love” with the South West as an 11 year old and returned to make it his home five years later, lured by the laidback lifestyle and the surf beaches.
He had lived in Wilyabrup for about five years, working casually in local restaurants and bars and spending his free time surfing.
“Whenever we would talk and I would ask how he was doing he would say ‘livin’ the dream mum, livin’ the dream’," she said.
“Kyle loved the environment, he loved the ocean and all the creatures that go with it. There is no real explanation for the randomness of Mother Nature and there is no blame. He has always been respectful of the risks of his adventures and activities and he wanted to make the most of every day and we all admired him so much for that passion.”
Mrs Burden thanked her son’s friend and a fellow surfer who risked their own lives to bring him to shore, and police and emergency service workers who were on the beach on Sunday.
"I would like to sincerely thank Sgt Craig Anderson and Reverend Keith Carmody of the Western Australian Police. They were with Kyle on the day and have been with us every step of the way from the phone call,” she said.
Mr Burden’s friends are planning a tribute paddle out at 10am tomorrow at the surf break known locally as Boneyards, where he was attacked just 50m from the shore shortly after 1pm Sunday.
More than 10,000 people have visited dedicated Facebook pages to post condolence messages to the surfer’s friends and family.
The Fisheries Department used a plane and boats to search for the shark but did not see it and the Bunker Bay beach was reopened at midnight Monday.
However, Cowaramup Bay beaches and surf breaks from South Point to North Point at Gracetown were closed from about 1.30pm Monday after two confirmed shark sightings on consecutive days near Huzza’s.
Augusta-Margaret River Shire spokeswoman Tessa Dornan said council rangers initially closed the beaches for 24 hours and erected shark warning signs at the request of the Fisheries Department, but when they went to remove the signs on Tuesday two surfers told them they had just seen a four-metre white pointer near Huzza’s.
The beaches remained closed and the Fisheries Department has asked that they remain closed until 8am tomorrow, she said.
Despite the closure five surfers ignored the shark warnings and were in the water off North Point Gracetown at 7am yesterday.
A Fisheries Department spokesman said there was no way of knowing if the shark spotted at Cowaramup Bay, some 50 kilometres from Bunker Bay, had anything to do with the attack on Mr Burden.
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