His Heroic Final Moments: He Let the Tiger Shark Take Him So His Friend Could Escape!

This is the true story behind the 2010 movie: The Reef. In 1983, 27-year-old Ray Boundy had been living the life he always wanted in the beautiful tropical city of Townsville in North Eastern Australia. The father of 2 was captain of “The New Venture”- a 45-foot-long prawn- trawler boat and was by all accounts- a highly accomplished seaman, despite his young age- On Friday, July 22nd, Ray and his crew- make some final preparations for a shrimp fishing trip… Later that evening, the crew boards the new venture, and set off on their journey… It’s now the night of July 22nd- and in stark contrast to the first 2 days of smooth sailing, the new venture is suddenly hit with high winds accompanied with extremely rough seas— The crew figures that their only option would be to ride out the conditions and hope for the best- As midnight struck– The conditions were not getting any better, and the boat is being hit by massive waves- causing internal flooding—As Captain Ray and Lindy are in the wheelhouse doing everything they can to keep the New Venture afloat- Dennis, meanwhile- who was out on the deck, suddenly notices a gigantic wave rapidly approaching the boat- with no time to warn the others- Dennis jumps off the boat as it is simultaneously hit by the colossal wave- which instantly capsizes and flips the boat... Using some rope, they tie together a surfboard, a life ring, some Styrofoam boxes, and a beer cooler- and finally, they enter the Coral Sea waters, and begin paddling toward the reefs as planned. With no drinking water, or protection from the scorching sun, the trio risked dehydration and nasty sunburn as immediate physical threats-- But in the back of their minds of course, and with good reason, was the fact that they were swimming in the open seas- in what was prime fishing ground-which meant sharks encounters with curious sharks were also a very real and not to mention highly dangerous possibility...