A Big Island man is in the hospital after a tiger shark attacked him. Photo: Screenshot/KITV
On Tuesday morning, a man swimming at Anaehoomalu Bay on the Big Island was attacked by a suspected tiger shark. He was able to fight the shark off with a diving knife, but sustained serious injuries.
According to reports, emergency crews were called to the Lava Lava Beach Club in Waikoloa Village at just after 8 a.m. Officials said the victim is a 68-year-old man who was swimming some 400 yards off shore when the shark bit him in the hip upper thigh region. He then used his dive knife to fend the attacking shark off and began to swim back to shore. He was helped to the sand by bystanders. When first responders arrived on scene to take him to the hospital, he was still conscious.
“The shark got a good chunk of his left side of his back rear…and he kinda went on and…tried to get rid of the shark a little bit, and got his fingers cut up razor-like cuts on his fingers,” Anthony Singh, who witnessed the attack, told KITV. “The guy said he couldn’t really feel anything because he was in shock. He didn’t even notice how much of his meat got bitten off.”
Authorities told reporters that the victim is a local man from Waikoloa. He was taken to North Hawaii Community Hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. It’s likely that he’ll be taken to Oahu for more treatment once his condition is a more stable.
