Randy Fry's ill-fated dive took a deadly turn when he was savagely attacked at the throat by a massive great white shark, described as "the size of a pickup truck", resulting in his immediate and gruesome death.

Shark attacks are exceedingly uncommon in California, with only 10 documented cases in history. Globally, shark attack fatalities are rare, averaging around seven per year.

Despite the worldwide risk of shark encounters, from Australia to South Africa, Randy's chilling 2004 ordeal has particularly resonated with the public, as reported by the Daily Star.

Randy, a passionate sea enthusiast, often spent his free time engaging in sport fishing and abalone diving along the rugged coast near his Mendocino residence. He embarked on an abalone diving trip to the secluded Kibesillah Rock cove with his mates, Cliff Zimmerman and Red Bartley, approximately 10 miles from Fort Bragg.

It was during this outing that tragedy struck. Randy and Cliff left the Dolphin, Cliff's 28ft vessel, to dive for abalone in the shallow waters, about 15ft deep and 150ft from shore, according to the Irish Star, reports the.

Cliff, who was just 3ft away from Randy at the time of the attack, recounted the horrifying moment to the San Francisco Chronicle: "I heard a noise, like 'whoosh,' like a submarine, like a boat going by fast. It was a shark.

"I knew it was a shark. It almost brushed me. I saw its dorsal fin. I don't know what kind it was - all I know is, it was big. Big. It was big enough to kill."

Cliff could only watch in terror as the shark launched an attack on Randy, staining the ocean a gruesome shade of red. He likened the size of the shark to his pickup truck, estimating it at a colossal 18ft.

He recounted: "It was massive. I was yelling and yelling, but I knew from the amount of blood that it was fatal. He came in for the kill."

Red, who witnessed the dreadful incident from a boat, acted quickly to rescue Cliff from the water and issued an emergency call.

He described the swift brutality of the attack: "It was over in five seconds. I saw the pool of blood spread across the surface of the water and I knew Randy was gone."

The grim discovery of Randy's decapitated body was made the next day.

In retrospect, Cliff said: "It was the most dramatic thing I ever saw in my life. It's just not real. This monster came so fast, it happened so fast and was over so fast you think, 'How can this happen?'". His cries for Randy were desperate: "I yelled, 'Randy! Randy!' I yelled, 'Holy s**t! Shark!'".

The event shook him deeply: ". It was terrible. I almost had a heart attack myself. It could have been me."

The horror for Randy's family extended beyond the attack. The father of one met his untimely end on August 15, yet it took until September 8 for a beachcomber to find his severed head.

Randy's death was particularly tragic considering the rarity of fatal shark attacks in the region.

Specialists were "in no doubt whatsoever" that a great white shark was responsible for Randy's demise. The deadly predator may have confused him for a seal.

Cliff stated: "I never heard of a fatality on this coast. A nibble, maybe, a nip, but never nothing like this. Never a full-bore attack."

In a haunting turn, Cliff disclosed that his close friend had uncannily predicted his own demise at the jaws of a shark.

"Randy and I discussed it many times," he recalled. "He said, 'I think a shark will get me sometime.' ".

Tragically, his ominous prediction became a reality in the most appalling way imaginable.