How ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ actor and surf legend Tomayo Perry survived countless close-calls before fatal shark attack
Hawaii surf legend and “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor Tomayo Perry survived countless close calls during his decades-long career on the waves — but he never expected to fall victim to one of the rarest-dangers of all: a man-eating shark.
“It’s like knowing you could get in a car and get in a car accident,” Tomayo’s grieving wife, Emilia Perry, said of shark attacks. “You don’t, you don’t, you don’t, then you do.”
Tomayo paddled out on his surfboard for the last time just after noon last Sunday and never came back. Local surfers quickly found his body in the water with an arm and a leg missing, and he was later pronounced dead from a shark attack.
He spent decades surfing and lifeguarding on some of the world’s most dangerous beaches, and was no stranger to peril during his years on the water.
“He hit his head in 2004 and he got 50 stitches and 25 staples,” Emilia said, tallying off incidents where errant surfboards split Tamayo’s head inches from his temple, or a wipeout where he surfaced with a leg gash just millimeters from his femoral artery.
But shark attacks — which are “extremely rare” according to Hawaii wildlife officials — were never a serious concern for Tomayo compared to the other risks for serious surfers.
“We all talk about it, but if you love surfing it’s not gonna stop you from paddling out,” said Jesse King, 37, a lifeguard who worked closely with 49-year-old Tomayo for years.
Emilia said Tomayo was also a “ham” and a “class clown” — a fun-loving attitude which helped him land roles in movies and TV shows like Pirates of the Caribbean, Blue Crush, Hawaii Five-0, and one in Charlie’s Angels where he played himself.
“We had so much fun. It was awesome. He had a really beautiful, full life. It was really, really fun. Just constant laughter,” Emilia said.
The pair met in 1998 while surfing the Banzai Pipeline, a reef on the North Shore that’s known for producing one of the most dangerous waves in the world. After surfing professionally across the world for several years, Tomayo returned to Pipeline in 2016 to become a full time lifeguard on the dangerous beach.
“There’s lots of rescues he’s done. He’s pulled his best friends out. He’s pulled strangers out. None of it’s easy, it’s a very heroic job,” Emilia said, recalling how he would pray out loud over people on the beach if they required CPR.
“It’s crazy — every CPR case to Tomayo worked on, they’ve come back,” she said.
It was actions like those on one of surfing’s biggest beaches that made Tomayo’s death reverberate around the world.
“The North Shore is a tight community, but it’s actually this massive surfing community,” Emilia said.
“Because in the surfing world you travel everywhere, you meet surfers, we’re friends with surfers from Australia, all over the world.”
She recalled her husband as “larger than life,” while Jesse and other friends agreed he was an “amazing person.”
“He was full of life, full of passion in everything he did. He never did anything with partial effort. He did everything full throttle all the time,” Jesse said. “Any room he was in, he would bring the light with him. He always just made time for you.”
Emilia said she is hanging onto the last moment she saw her husband alive.
“It was just like another beautiful day,” she said. “He woke up, gave me a bunch of kisses, say goodbye, I love you. Then he to work, and he didn’t come home.”
