{"id":808850,"date":"2026-07-18T20:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T20:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/808850\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T20:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T20:23:19","slug":"three-years-after-fatal-shark-attack-community-cements-teachers-legacy-with-massive-fundraising-effort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/808850\/","title":{"rendered":"Three years after fatal shark attack, community cements teacher’s legacy with massive fundraising effort"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a cold, wet morning when runners hit the pavement bound for Elliston from Adelaide.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Simon Baccanello was\u00a0surfing near Elliston when he was attacked by a shark. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

A gruelling, 720-kilometre slog lies ahead of them, but hearts are full when the 38-strong team of Bucky’s Beach Relay take off on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Simon ‘Bucky’ Baccanello died in a shark attack in the surf at Walkers Rocks off Elliston, but this week his legacy has moved beyond that thanks to a community who loved him.<\/p>\n

And rather than let his memory fade with time, friends and family have rallied to raise more than half a million dollars to cement his legacy through a new community sporting facility in Elliston.<\/p>\n

\"Children<\/p>\n

Children welcomed runners as they entered Elliston on Saturday morning. (ABC North & West: Jenae Madden)<\/p>\n

“I feel like he’s with me all the time in lots of different ways,” Simon’s brother, Paul Baccanello said.<\/p>\n

“When we have a big group here together, which is what Simon really loved, he just wanted his mates to be together, and he was very good at bringing people together.”<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Runners in the Bucky’s Beach Relay leave Adelaide bound for Elliston. (Supplied: Pete McDonald)<\/p>\n

Community rocked by tragedy<\/p>\n

In May 2023, Simon Baccanello, 46, was surfing at Walkers Rock when he was attacked by a shark<\/a> about 30 to 50 metres offshore.<\/p>\n

An avid surfer and keen fisherman, Simon joined the Elliston Area School<\/a> earlier that year as a health and physical education teacher, and was involved in junior sports, football and tennis.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Walkers Rock was the scene of the first of six shark attacks in eight months along SA beaches. (ABC News: Che Chorley)<\/p>\n

Rather than be remembered for his death, Mr Baccanello said he wanted his brother to be remembered for how he lived.<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of heartache that has come from Simon’s death, which was a really difficult thing at the time,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Runners crossed the finish line on Saturday afternoon. (ABC North & West: Jenae Madden)<\/p>\n

“But having said that, from it has come a lot of good.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“My family is indebted and very grateful to the community of Elliston who have just been extraordinary to our family.”Puppy healing rural SA school’s heart after trauma<\/a><\/p>\n

Elliston’s newest student helps to heal hearts after the traumatic deaths of a teacher and a student over the past year.<\/p>\n

An outpouring of generosity<\/p>\n

With an initial goal of $300,000, the team raised more than $500,000, with the funds yet to be fully counted.<\/p>\n

Pete McDonald was a friend of Bucky’s who organised the relay. He said he was overwhelmed with the community’s support.<\/p>\n

“The money is still pouring in, it’s just unbelievable,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’m sure Simon would be very happy with the fact that what we’re doing is for the benefit of a community that he loved, and a community that we’ve come to love,” said Bucky’s brother Mr Baccanello.<\/p>\n

Elliston Area School principal Chad Fleming has been with the support team throughout the run and said he was “blown away” by the support and camaraderie of the runners.<\/p>\n

“You can just feel the vibes coming from everyone that’s participating and everyone involved,” Mr Fleming said.<\/p>\n

Mr Fleming said while plans for the new facility have not yet been finalised, it would focus on community health, wellbeing and fitness.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Chad Fleming said he was “blown away” by the comradery of the runners. (ABC News: Jessica Warriner)<\/p>\n

“We’ve got a really vibrant committee organised \u2026 everyone’s having a say and input on what this amazing amount of money will be put towards,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Even building that committee is bringing people together and I feel like that’s gonna be the end result of Simon’s legacy in our town.<\/p>\n

“He gelled with the kids straight away, got to know so many people so quickly and people talk about those conversations he had with them.<\/p>\n

“We’re really looking to replicate that and that’s going to be his legacy, not only in our town, but for the rest of our lives.”\"A<\/p>\n

A beach memorial for Simon Baccanello. (ABC News: Che Chorley)<\/p>\n

More news from regional SA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s a cold, wet morning when runners hit the pavement bound for Elliston from Adelaide. Simon Baccanello was\u00a0surfing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[383723,64,63,383717,383722,383724,383718,383721,24743,383719,383720,383727,383726,85,383725],"class_list":["post-808850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-2023-shark-attack","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-buckys-beach-relay","tag-elliston","tag-elliston-shark-attack","tag-fundraising-bucky","tag-shark-attack-elliston","tag-shark-attacks","tag-simon-baccanello","tag-simon-baccanello-shark-attack","tag-simon-bucky-baccanello","tag-south-australia-shark-attacks","tag-sports","tag-teacher-killed-by-shark"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808850","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=808850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}