Please bookmark for future updates
The 40-year-old school chaplain was bitten by the shark while fishing with family in waters off Keppel Islands on Saturday
A youth pastor and school chaplain described as an inspirational leader has been identified as the man who died after being bitten by a shark while on holiday with his family in Queensland.
Emergency services were called to Humpy Island in the Keppel Bay Islands national park, about 18km off the central Queensland coast, on Saturday after reports a man had been attacked.
Luke Walford, 40, was bitten by the shark while fishing with family members in waters off Keppel Islands about 4.30pm, a Queensland police spokesperson said.
Despite efforts by paramedics to save his life, he succumbed to his injuries just before 6pm.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Walford was a youth pastor for the Cathedral of Praise and school chaplain at Heights College in Rockhampton.
The Queensland member for Rockhampton, Donna Kirkland, said Walford was a “wonderful man” lost in tragic circumstances.
“A family friend, not only to my own family but countless others. He was an inspirational leader as a children’s and youth pastor,” she said in a statement.
“My prayers and heartfelt condolences are with his beautiful family and indeed the many who will be devastated, as I am, at this news.”
Local member Nigel Hutton also sent his well wishes to the family.
“The thoughts and prayers of our community go out to the Walford family,” he said.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
Experts say that as climate change warms water, shark encounters with people are potentially becoming a little bit more common.
There have been at least four other shark-related injuries in Australian waters in 2024, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database.
In early December a man in his 60s was bitten by a shark while spear fishing off Queensland’s Curtis Island. He was treated for lacerations to both arms.
In March a teenage girl was treated for minor injuries from a shark attack at Bargara beach near Bundaberg.
A woman suffered significant injuries to her leg from a shark bite while snorkelling in the ocean off Mackay in October, and another woman in her late 20s was bitten on the right leg by a suspected bull shark in Elizabeth Bay in Sydney Harbour in January.
Youth pastor identified as man who died after shark bite off Queensland coast
