‘Can’t remember paddling out’: Hero surfer who rescued shark attack victim speaks out

A hero surfer has told how he risked his life to save Mel Ismail, the father attacked by a shark in Geraldton, Western Australia on Monday.

Shannan Dunn thought nothing of paddling into bloodied waters after turning up to Glenfield Beach for a surf only to see 56-year-old Ismail desperately waving for help.

“I can’t even remember paddling out, other than, ‘What the hell what am I doing? What if that shark is still around?’,” Dunn recalled.

“The main thing was to get him back to shore and hope to see his family again.”

Ismail was bitten on the leg by a shark while on a solo surf.

“He basically said, ‘A shark’s got me, it’s taken my leg’,” Dunn said.

“He probably did the same thing I did and probably didn’t want to look at it, just wanted to get back to shore and safety and do whatever to survive, he just went into survival mode.”

Dunn pulled the 56-year-old on his board and raced back to shore.

“On the way back I was sort of packing, dude’s still bleeding what if there’s sharks behind us.

"End of the day we just had to get him in as quick as we could."

Other beachgoers, including two teens, rushed to help and provided first aid and used Dunn's surfboard leg rope to create a makeshift tourniquet.

“I couldn’t believe what he did when we got to shore, I was ripping my wetsuit apart thinking I could make a tourniquet of that not thinking about the leg rope that was right there, and he grabbed the leg rope, ripped it off my ankle and stemmed the bleeding,” Dunn said.

Ismail was "calm the whole time" the first responders worked on him.

“He didn’t peek out, he didn’t complain about pain,” Dunn said.

The stretch of coast is difficult for emergency crews to access, so Dunn had to think fast, driving his own ute onto the beach and loading Ismail into the back, before driving him to meet the waiting ambulance.

“When I chucked him in the back of the ute – it’s an old Navara – I told all the boys in the back and the lady, I said, ’This isn’t going to be a smooth ride, ’cause I’m gonna be gunning it and this car is pretty rough so just hang on’,” Dunn recalled.

The surfer underwent emergency surgery at Geraldton Hospital, where he was still recovering on Tuesday night.

9News understands Ismail lost his foot from the attack though the extent of his leg injuries was unclear.

The father is one of the first patients to be treated at the new intensive care unit in Geraldton and the team looking after him say he’s in safe hands.

Ismail’s family have issued a statement thanking everyone for their “support and kindness” and to those who helped save the firefighter’s life.

They added that their focus now is on the injured dad and his long recovery ahead.