{"id":676143,"date":"2026-05-17T05:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T05:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/676143\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T05:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T05:38:12","slug":"hearts-irrevocably-broken-family-pays-tribute-to-rottnest-shark-attack-victim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/676143\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Hearts irrevocably broken\u2019: Family pays tribute to Rottnest shark attack victim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">A young father who was killed by a four-metre shark while spearfishing off Rottnest has been remembered as a \u201cdevoted\u201d dad who was \u201calways in tune with the sea\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Steven Mattaboni, 38, was in the water with four friends about 1km off Horseshoe Reef when the predator, reportedly a great white, attacked just before 10am on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Despite frantic attempts by his mates, who performed CPR on a boat as they raced him to Geordie Bay, and St John ambulance paramedics who were waiting there, he could not be saved.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7c7f6d483b2a4fedc22b2c0a6b205d0327f17fa0.jpg\" alt=\"Steven Mattaboni's wife has paid tribute to the father-of-two, the day after a fatal shark attack off Rottnest Island.\" class=\"css-16r7l45-StyledImage en5ut4d0\"\/>Camera IconSteven Mattaboni&#8217;s wife has paid tribute to the father-of-two, the day after a fatal shark attack off Rottnest Island. Credit: supplied<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Mr Mattaboni\u2019s devastated wife, Shirene, said the northern suburbs man was a devoted father of \u201ctwo beautiful daughters\u201d \u2014 one who turns three next month and their four-month-old baby.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cOur hearts are irrevocably broken by the loss of Steven, known affectionately to his mates as \u2018Mattas\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cAn avid fisherman and spearfisherman, who lived and breathed the ocean, he was always in tune with the sea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cHe was fiercely loyal, endlessly generous, and the kind of man who would give you the shirt off his back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cThe world has lost a truly one-of-a-kind gentleman, and our daughters have lost an incredible father far too soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Ms Mattaboni \u2014 a specialist nurse \u2014 said the family also extended their \u201cdeepest, most sincere gratitude\u201d to the emergency services and first responders who worked so tirelessly to save her husband.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b06940f6427f8fb9f4681e05ccb834ea67d3055e.jpg\" alt=\"Steven Mattaboni's wife has paid tribute to the father-of-two, the day after a fatal shark attack off Rottnest Island.\" class=\"css-16r7l45-StyledImage en5ut4d0\"\/>Camera IconSteven Mattaboni&#8217;s wife has paid tribute to the father-of-two, the day after a fatal shark attack off Rottnest Island. Credit: supplied<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cAs we try to navigate this incomprehensible loss and grieve the extraordinary man we loved so much, we respectfully ask the media and the public for privacy during this incredibly difficult time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A young father who was killed by a four-metre shark while spearfishing off Rottnest has been remembered as&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44,1042,45],"class_list":["post-676143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-sharks","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}