Noa Sage, the 20-year-old French-Swede who fell while with friends around Blue Fish Point in Manly in January has been formally declared dead by a Coronial Inquiry.
The young man, who was living in Bower Street and working at a local hospitality venue in Manly, had been exploring the secluded part of North Head in Manly with his friends when he elected to free climb up a rock ledge, where he then fell before being swept into the ocean.
Despite extensive search efforts over several days his body was not recovered and the search was called off. Remarkably, a portion of the his shirt was however located in the ocean a few days later. It had marks consistent with shark bites, the coronial inquest revealed.
Deputy State Coroner Erin Kennedy has determined that Nils Noa Enzo Samrud-Sage had died from misadventure on 18 January 2023, but could not satisfactorily determine the cause of death.
“I am satisfied on the evidence that Noa did not survive, and I find on the evidence before me that he is now deceased,” the magistrate concluded.
“The deepest of sympathies are extended to Noa’s family. The loss of Noa in these circumstances touched so many in our community. The disappearance of anyone in these circumstances is a tragedy. It is made all the more difficult and painful because Noa was so far from home and his family. He had come to Australia for an adventure. He was out doing just that, enjoying nature with his friends. He was innocently enjoying a beautiful day when a terrible accident occurred, and his life was lost,” the magistrate stated.
The inquest heard from all of Noa’s friends present at the time of his fall, most of whom witnessed him come away from the rock ledge he was climbing and drop about 1.5 metres, losing consciousness instantly.
They attempted to scale back down to the base of the cliff to reach Noa, but he had already been swept out into the ocean. There were high waters and currents preventing them from reaching him. The group members watched in shock as Noa, apparently unconscious, remained floating in the ocean for a short period of time before he disappeared.
The inquest also heard from Noa’s father, Oliver Samrud-Sage. The father told the magistrate that Noa’s mother had spent time backpacking in Australia in the 1980’s and Noa was drawn to Australia to spend time here. He hoped to stay for a number of years and was enjoying living in Manly. He was well travelled, and his family had lived in three different countries, including within the Middle East, but they had a family home which was based in Sweden. He is sadly missed by his brother and sister.
On the 17th of January his father said he had received an unexpected call from Noa and they spoke at length. His son was happy, and that would be the last conversation the family would have with Noa.
You can view the full coronial inquest finding here
While this article has been independently researched and written, we were only alerted to the inquest findings after we read this report in the Manly Daily. It was first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald in May.
