Off-duty Western Australian firefighter Mel Ismail, 56, has lost his foot after being attacked by a shark while surfing alone at Glenfield Beach in Geraldton on Monday morning. He was bitten roughly 40 metres from shore, prompting a rescue effort from a fellow beachgoer and a group of teenagers who improvised a tourniquet from surfboard rope before emergency services arrived, an intervention credited with saving his life.

Ismail, a keen surfer once pictured with world champion Mick Fanning, was taken to Geraldton Health Campus in a serious but stable condition and has since undergone surgery. Authorities have seized his wetsuit and damaged board to help identify the shark species, and a section of the beach remains closed while the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development coordinates the response. The attack follows two fatal shark incidents in Western Australia earlier this year, at Rottnest Island in May and Michaelmas Island in June, part of four fatal shark attacks recorded across Australia in 2026.