'Winking back at me': Australian surfer Mel Ismail jabbed a shark's eye as it severed his leg at Glenfield Beach

From the Newshound archive · first published 9 October 2026 · last updated 10 October 2026.

Mel Ismail, a surfer and professional firefighter, had his right leg taken off below the knee when a shark pulled him under at Glenfield Beach near Geraldton on Australia's west coast on September 14. In his first public interview, broadcast on ABC on Thursday, he described driving his fingers into the predator's eye socket as it dragged him down — and watching the shark appear to wink back at him. He then rode a wave to shore, where fellow surfer Shannan Dunn, who arrived with 'eyes like saucers', hauled him onto a board to safety. Bystanders improvised a tourniquet from a leg rope while another called an ambulance.

Great whites, makos and similar sharks have no eyelids — during an attack they roll their eyeballs back into their sockets, which produced the 'winking' effect Ismail described.

Ismail initially assumed he had been hit by a dolphin, having seen a pod of around 20 of them just moments before the shark struck.

Authorities have yet to identify what species of shark was responsible for the attack on Ismail.