Jose Ernesto da Silva has died after his penis was ripped off by a shark as he swam with pals over the weekend.
Shocked onlookers rushed into the water to assist the terrified young man and pulled him from the ocean.
But he died in the hospital.
The 18-year-old had been instructed by lifeguards to come closer to shore prior to the attack, Brazilian media reported. Signs warned that deeper water could result in an attack.
“At the exact moment in which the lifeguards asked for them to come closer to the beach, he was bitten,” a fire official said.
The incident occurred on Piedade beach near Recife on the central coast.
Rescuers tried to stem the gushing blood with tourniquets. In a graphic video posted online, the crowd urges da Silva to breath.
But en route to hospital, the stricken young man suffered two heart attacks and was listed in critical condition.
Experts believe the predator was likely a tiger shark.
His mother, Elisangela dos Anjos, told JC Online.
“When I heard about it I went crazy, all the neighbours heard me screaming.”
The stretch of coast is notorious for shark attacks where 80% of the country’s incidents are recorded.
On April 15, Pablo de Melo, 35, had to have a leg and a hand amputated after being attacked by a shark at nearly the same spot.
