A man who tragically died after being mauled by a shark has been identified as a beloved youth pastor.
Luke Walford, 40, was spearfishing with family and friends off of Humpy Island in the Keppel Bay Islands National Park, about 18km off the central Queensland coast, when he was attacked about 4.30pm on Saturday.
A critical medical team, including a doctor, rushed to the scene and found Mr Walford had sustained ‘significant’ neck injuries, a Queensland Ambulance Service spokesperson said.
Despite the best efforts of first responders to revive him, Mr Walford was pronounced dead at the scene just before 6pm.
Mr Walford worked as a children’s and youth pastor for the Cathedral of Praise and Heights College in his hometown, Rockhampton
He was honoured as Rockhampton’s Young Citizen of the Year in 2010 for his work with children in local schools and the Salvation army.
A friend of Mr Walford took to social media to honour him as ‘a really gentle soul, you won’t meet one person that would have anything negative to say about him’.
State MP for Keppel, Nigel Hutton, said the community was sending their ‘thoughts and prayers’ to his family.
The Cathedral of Praise’s website said Mr Walford was a ‘God honouring man whose enthusiasm and energy to serve the body is infectious’.
‘He has a genuine love for children and young people and desires to help them grow in all that God has created them to be,’ the website reads.
Images from Mr Walford’s social media accounts reveal he was an avid spear-fisherman alongside his father who tragically died from cancer in 2022.
This latest attack is the worst in a string of other shark attacks which have taken place in recent months.
One man in his 60s was bitten by a shark while spearfishing off Curtis Island, north of Gladstone, at 8.25am on December 2.
He suffered minor to moderate wounds to his forearms and bystanders performed first aid to quell the bleeding while paramedics arrived.
Another 57-year-old woman was attacked while snorkelling on a reef about 200km off Mackay’s coast at 4.30pm on October 30.
She sustained two 30cm bite wounds to her calf and it took more than eight hours to get her back to shore.
Bystanders again performed first aid on the woman and the n Navy assisted in getting her back to the mainland.