The waters of the legendary North Shore surfing area off Hawaii’s island of Oahu have been empty since a surfer lost his leg to a shark Friday morning, KHON2 reported.
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After reaching the hospital, doctors had to amputate his leg. According to doctors, the shark had bitten Colin Cook below the knee and took parts of his leg below the knee cap.
Enright said another surfer was in the water with the man and helped him back to shore after the attack.
A witness told Hawaii News Now that Cook was apparently sitting on his surfboard with his legs dangling in the water when he was attacked. He said the Rhode Island native is a regular at the popular surf spot where the shark bit him, and they both live nearby.
Shayne Enright, a spokesperson for the Honolulu Emergency Medical Services, said that after being helped by another surfer, Cook was towed in by a kayaker. First responders took over treatment and EMS transported Cook to a trauma center in critical condition.
Despite this, he was in good spirits before surgery, Mr Webster said. It was the fifth shark attack in Hawaii this year. I hope what happened doesn’t make him feel any differently towards sharks or the ocean.
It is not clear how far out they were at the time of the incident. One of the good Samaritans used a surfboard leash as a tourniquet on the man’s leg to help stop the bleeding.
According to witnesses, the shark was about 10 to 12 feet long, but officials said they did not the know the species or size.
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An Instagram post says the victim lost his left leg.
