Tourist, 26, mauled to dying by a shark as her dive teacher boyfriend bravely tried to avoid wasting her life is recognized – as tragic particulars emerge

The young woman who was mauled to death by a shark in unpatrolled waters has been identified as a remarkably fit academic who just completed her studies. 

Livia Muhlheim, 25, and her boyfriend Lukas Schindler, 26, were mauled by a bull shark during an early morning swim in the unpatrolled waters off Kylies Beach at Crowdy Bay, south of Port Macquarie, on Thursday.

Emergency services were called to the beach, known to be a shark hotspot, at about 6.30am following reports that the young Swiss couple had been attacked.

Mr Schindler, an exchange student who had recently qualified as a diving instructor, tried desperately to fight off the three-metre shark as it attacked his girlfriend.

The 25-year-old had been using a GoPro to film a pod of dolphins moments before the shark bit her several times, tearing off her left arm.

Mr Schindler managed to scare it away but not before the animal mauled had Ms Muhlheim and bit him twice on the leg as well.

These injuries did not stop him from carrying her 50m to shore where bystanders immediately jumped in to try and save their lives.

Despite these efforts, Ms Muhlheim succumbed to her injuries before paramedics arrived. 

Livia Muhlheim, 25, was mauled to death by a bull shark on Thursday

Her boyfriend Lukas Schindler, 26, desperately tried to save her

The couple were both athletic with backgrounds in various forms of fitness.

Mr Schindler recently completed the Sydney Marathon in a time of 2 hours and 59 minutes in August. 

That same month he gained an Open Water Scuba Instructor certificate from the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, which is based in California.

He completed a diving instructors’ course at a Bondi dive centre last week and graduated his Master of Arts degree at the University of Technology Sydney in the second semester of 2025.

Mr Schindler also worked as a gymnastics coach from 2016 to 2018 before becoming a first lieutenant in the Swiss Armed Forces in 2019. 

He studied his bachelor of business administration at the University of St Gallen, where Ms Muhlheim also studied, in 2024.  

Ms Muhlheim was a former synchronized swimmer and passionate runner, according to her employer. 

She studied her Master’s in Accounting and Finance at the University of St.Gallen, in Switzerland, and had been hired by a financial consulting firm in 2024. 

Mr Schindler was bit twice on the leg as he attempted to ward off the three-metre shark

The pair worked together as Security Operators at the World Economic Forum and both attended the 51st St. Gallen Symposium for future leaders in Switzerland.

The event focused on challenges of global security, climate action, and intergenerational fairness and was also attended by politicians from around the world.   

‘We had entrepreneurs, politicians, activists and academics from all around the globe who did not just ask questions but really challenged the senior leaders and most importantly inspired them with new approaches to make the world a better place,’ Ms Muhlheim wrote at the time.

‘I am so grateful you all made it to St. Gallen and I am so proud of you!’

more to come.