WAIEHU, Hawaii (KHON2) — A 61-year-old man from Wailuku is recovering in the hospital after losing his leg after he was bitten by a shark on Friday morning.
Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news
Maui Police and Fire officials confirmed the incident happened shortly after 7 a.m. in the waters off Waiehu Beach Park, at a surf spot referred to as Sandpiles.
Expert calls multiple shark encounters this week ‘unusual’
Police were first to arrive on scene and applied two combat application tourniquets to control the bleeding.
State Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement officers also responded to the scene.
First responders confirmed the victim’s leg was completely “severed just below the knee.”
According to Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety Assistant Chief Jeff Giesea, the victim was alert while being treated onshore. The patient was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center in critical condition.
He alerted officers he had suffered the shark bite while surfing and was able to swim back to shore with the help of other surfers.
A close friend to the victim said he is in stable condition after undergoing surgery Friday morning.
The friend adds Sandpiles is his normal surf spot, and he’s been surfing the area for 30 years.
He also told his friends he believes it was a tiger shark.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources closed the area around 7:42 a.m. Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water from Paukūkalo to Waihe‘e. The fire department will continue patrolling the area until noon Saturday.
According to the DLNR website, this is the fifth shark attack of 2024, and the first on a neighbor island.
The last attacks in Waiehu were on October 2013 and November 2012.
Experts said there is a greater chance of encountering sharks during these months.
“What happens this time of year is the big female sharks swim down from the Northwest Hawaiian islands, a third of the population swim down here to pup and give birth, and when they finish pupping, they hang around and feed before swimming back,” explained Waikiki Aquarium Director Andrew Rossiter.
He said sharks have poor vision too, and photos of the area on Friday showed poor visibility.
Check out more news from around Hawaii
A public warning has been issued until at least noon on Saturday, Nov. 2.
In the meantime, a Maui Fire Department drone is being used to detect shark activity in offshore waters.
A Go Fund Me has been started to assist the victim with medical costs.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KHON2.
