A shark bit a Maui surfer Friday morning and severed his leg, authorities said.
The 61-year-old man was surfing Friday morning off Waiehu Beach Park at a surf break known as Sand Piles when a shark bit him, Maui County said in a statement. press release.
The police officers who arrived on scene first tried to control the bleeding using tourniquets. His leg was “completely severed just below the knee,” authorities said.
Witnesses told CBS affiliate Hawaii News Now that other surfers helped the man swim back to shore.
“I heard this scream and I looked, and all of a sudden I saw it splashing, and I don’t know what was happening,” witness David Basques told Hawaii News Now. “…He swam back maybe more than halfway and then I saw someone jump in and they went to pull him back in.”
The man was alert as he was treated on shore and then taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center in critical condition.
“I would like to commend the patient for his strength and ability to make it to shore,” Jeff Giesea, deputy chief of the Maui Fire Department, told reporters, according to KGMB. “I mean, it’s amazing. Whoever the good Samaritans were who offered to help, I’d like to congratulate them as well.”
The incident prompted authorities to close the beach park. Authorities warned people to stay out of the water in the area. The public warning to stay out of the water for one mile in each direction of the incident will be in effect until at least noon Saturday. The warning will be extended if there is a shark sighting in the area.
Maui Fire and Marine Safety officials patrolled the waters using lifeboats and a drone. State officials provided shark warning signs and helped cordon off the area.
No details were provided on the type of shark involved.
In June, famous surfer Tamayo Perry was killed during a shark attack while surfing off the north shore of Oahu.
