Shattered dad recalls the moment he found out his daughter had been killed by a shark: ‘It’s Charlize’
The devastated father of a 17-year-old girl who was fatally mauled by a shark at her local beach was at home when he started to hear sirens.
Steve Zmuda desperately started ringing his friends after news broke a swimmer had been killed, only to receive the life-changing news every parent dreads.
‘I said “Is it a fatality… do we know them” …'”Steve I have to tell you, It’s Charlize” … I said “you’re joking”… I screamed, all the neighbours came running out,’ he recalled.
Mr Zmuda, who runs the Nippers club at Woorim Beach on the tip of Queensland’s southeast coast, desperately tried to get a hold of his wife Renee.
‘(Steve) couldn’t talk and I didn’t know what was going on … I screamed at him ‘just tell me!’ … not for one second thinking it would be…,’ she told the Courier Mail.
‘I knew it was bad because he couldn’t speak… but in my head I was like ‘where do I need to be?’.’
After breaking the news to Charlize’s 13-year-old sister Stephanie, Ms Zmuda went to visit her daughter at the local ambulance station.
‘I just needed to see her… because I didn’t want it to be real,’ she said.
Steve Zmuda (pictured) desperately started ringing his friends after news broke a swimmer had been killed, only to receive the life-changing news every parent dreads
Charlize’s lifeless body was pulled from the water at Woorim Beach by a police officer at about 4.45pm on February 3 (the 17-year-old is pictured)
Hundreds gathered for an emotional vigil at Woorim Beach (pictured) which was also attended by Charlize’s family and friends the following evening
Charlize’s lifeless body was pulled from the water at Woorim Beach by a police officer at about 4.45pm on February 3.
She had suffered critical injuries to her upper arm and body.
Hundreds gathered for an emotional vigil at Woorim Beach which was also attended by Charlize’s family and friends the following evening.
Family members shared stories about ‘Cha Cha’ and heartfelt tributes about the 17-year-old as grieving locals embraced each other.
Charlize’s sister Stephanie will compete in the SLS Sunshine Coast U11-U14 Youth Championships at Mooloolaba Surf Life Saving Club on Saturday.
Participants are expected to wear black armbands at the championships with wreaths of flowers to be laid in Charlize’s honour.
Mr Zmuda has urged Australians to swim between the red and yellow flags, saying it was the ‘only thing’ Charlize did wrong that fateful day.
‘It was a freak accident that happened the other day… I encourage people to get back in the water… we would never put people at risk,’ he said.
