Tamayo Perry’s wife breaks her silence on his shark attack death: ‘I had the best life with him, and now it’s over’
Tamayo Perry’s heartbroken widow has broken her silence following the actor’s tragic death in a shark attack in Hawaii.
Emilia Perry appeared on Good morning America Wednesday with actor and surfer’s good friend Jesse King to speak about his legacy.
‘It was like going on the best 25-year holiday of my life with him. And now it’s over. Now I have to return to reality,” Emilia said in tears.
Perry, 49, was found Sunday by local surfers at Mālaekahana Beach on Oahu’s North Shore with an arm and leg missing.
His partner of more than twenty years added: “The world knew Tamayo as a surfer and actor, but for those who knew him best, he was a man of deep faith now taken too soon.
Tamayo Perry’s widow Emilia Perry appeared on Good Morning America on Wednesday along with the surfer’s actor and close friend Jesse King to speak about Perry’s legacy
‘I feel so upset and devastated. But I also have a strange peace in my heart, knowing he is in a better place.”
Born in Oahu, the veteran surfer’s unparalleled charisma landed him roles in Pirates of the Caribbean and Blue Crush before his fatal shark attack last week.
Perry made his mark as a professional surfer on the North Shore before transitioning to lifeguarding.
He started surfing at age 12, and by the time he was a teenager, Perry was considered the “quiet, up-and-coming local kid who had to borrow surfboards because he had no sponsors,” according to The Encyclopedia of Surfing. .
Perry’s friend King told GMA that the actor knew the area where he died like the back of his hand.
Perry, 49, was found Sunday with an arm and leg missing by local surfers near Mālaekahana Beach on Oahu’s North Shore
Perry made his mark as a professional surfer on the North Shore before transitioning to lifeguarding
‘There was nothing unusual that would indicate anything bad would happen to him, compared to anyone else. Just an ordinary day,” King said of the tragic day of Perry’s death.
Perry and his wife operated the Oahu Surfing Experience and offered surfing lessons. According to his biography on the company’s website, he surfed professionally for more than 15 years, culminating in winning the Pipeline Master trials in 1999.
Emilia competed as a professional bodyboarder in Western Australia before moving to Hawaii at the age of 18. She and Tamayo met when she was bodyboarding to a Pipeline wave.
“A few years later I picked up a surfboard, we got married and there was no turning back,” she said on the Oahu Surfing Experience website.
‘The vast amount of ocean knowledge that Tamayo has taught me over the years is invaluable.’
Perry and his wife operated the Oahu Surfing Experience and offered surfing lessons
Kurt Lager, acting chief of Honolulu Ocean Safety, said Perry was “a lifeguard loved by all.”
“Tamayo’s personality was infectious and as much as people loved him, he loved everyone else more,” Lager said at a news conference.
“Tamayo was a legendary waterman and highly respected,” said Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, who called Perry’s death “a tragic loss.”
The last fatal shark incident in Hawaii was on December 30, when a man surfing off the coast of Maui was attacked about 500 feet offshore.