Kenji Nonaka was released from the hospital after being bitten by a shark on Maui. Photo: GoFundMe
Maui surfer Kenji Nonaka was released from the hospital Thursday. Just a week before, the 61 year old was surfing at Sand Piles in Waiehu, when a shark bit off part of his leg.
The update came from a post on the GoFundMe started for Nonaka. “We are overjoyed to share that Kenji has been discharged from the hospital today and is back home!!!” wrote the organizers. “Kenji and Tomoko both want to express their deepest gratitude for all the love, aloha and donations they have received across the island and beyond. While this was a horrific accident, Kenji is still the brightest beacon of light and hope, and is super motivated to begin the rehab and recovery process to get back into the ocean he loves.”
In an interview with KHON 2, Nonaka elaborated on the events leading up to and during the attack. He told the outlet that he had first become concerned about sharks in the area months earlier, when one bit a board at the same break where he was attacked. After the incident, Nonaka began wearing a shark band, a device that claims to be able to repel sharks using a magnet.
However, despite his precautions, Nonaka received the bite to his left leg on Friday, November 1. “I was screaming,” he recalled. “A couple friends came to me and they said, ‘Kenji! Catch a wave.’” He finally was able to catch a wave closer to shore, where he was aided by friends and onlookers. “My friend pushed me, I paddled, I kicked, paddle, paddle and then got to the beach,” he continued. “A couple of friends carried me and some homeless people too helped me.”
Once on shore, his friends moved him off the sand to a concrete area, to avoid infection. Doctors told Nonaka that the fact the cut on his leg was clean allowed him to be able to keep his knee. According to GoFundMe update, he is currently looking into a prosthetic.
“They gave me plenty of aloha. I don’t know how to say it, but thank you so much, I appreciate it, I am grateful,” Nonaka said of his rescuers. “I love surfing, I want to go back surfing. As for the the shark, it’s their property [the ocean], that’s why we have to share.”
