Australian shark attack survivor says he hit at the predator’s eye in an effort to fight it off
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he → say → it
Published Oct. 9, 2026, 2:52 a.m. ET
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Shark attack survivor Mel Ismail jabbed at the eye of the predator that severed his leg in an effort to fight it off before struggling back to shore, the surfer and professional firefighter said in an interview that revealed new details of his near-death encounter.
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that → publish → encounter
The professional firefighter was surfing at Glenfield Beach near Geraldton on Australia’s west coast when he was attacked on Sept. 14.
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he → surf → Sept.
He lost his right leg below the knee.
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He → lose → knee
Ismail recalled in an Australian Broadcasting Corp. interview broadcast on Thursday that he was sitting out the back of the surf break and spotted a pod of about 20 dolphins before being hit by something big.
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he → recall → something
It was the first time he has spoken publicly about the attack.
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he → speak → attack
“I thought I got hit by a dolphin, initially,” Ismail said.
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Ismail → think → dolphin
“And suddenly — bang — something grabbed me and dragged me down into the water.
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something → grab → water
And I knew it was a shark,” Ismail added.
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Ismail → know → ?
“I got to a point where I saw its eye … a big black eye,” Ismail said.
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Ismail → get → eye
“But it was winking back at me — I was trying to get my fingers in its eye and just pushing its eye as I was being dragged,” Ismail added.
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Ismail → wink → eye
Many sharks, including the white shark and mako shark, do not have eyelids, but when attacking prey, they roll their eyeballs backward into their sockets as a protective measure, exposing a tough layer of white cartilage.
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they → include → cartilage
Authorities have yet to determine the species of shark that attacked Ismail.
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that → have → Ismail
Alone and bleeding at the back of the surf break, Ismail caught a wave that took him about 66 feet closer to shore.
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that → bleed → shore
Ismail said he was out of breath and losing strength when he spotted surfer Shannan Dunn coming down the dunes on to the beach.
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Dunn → say → beach
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Report → start → news
Dunn went to Ismail’s rescue, helping the shark victim on to Dunn’s board.
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Dunn → go → board
Ismail described Dunn having “eyes like saucers.”
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Dunn → describe → saucers
“The first thing he (Dunn) said to me is, ‘Where’s the shark?’” Ismail said.
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Ismail → say → me
“I said ‘I don’t know.
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I → say → ?
I’ve got a bit going on here,’” Ismail added.
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Ismail → get → ?
Once they returned to the beach, an onlooker crafted a tourniquet for Ismail using a leg rope and another onlooker phoned for an ambulance.
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onlooker → return → ambulance
A pair of teenagers helped Ismail climb into Dunn’s SUV and they drove along the beach to meet an ambulance.
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they → help → ambulance
“I had a heap of people laughing, keeping me alive, keeping me positive in the back,” Ismail said.
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Ismail → have → back
“I gave a few knuckles to the people there, because I was feeling good,” Ismail added.
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Ismail → give → people
“I started to feel like I (was) going to make it.”
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I → start → it
Three spearfishing divers were killed by sharks off the Australian coast in four weeks over May and June.
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divers → kill → May
In January, a 12-year-old boy died in a hospital days after he was mauled by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor.
Australia has averaged between two and three fatal shark attacks a year since 2000, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database, a partnership including Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Flinders University and the New South Wales state government.
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Australia → die → Australia
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