Shark bites off part of surfer’s leg in attack near Maui beach, authorities say

A 61-year-old surfer in Hawaii managed to begin swimming toward shore after a shark bit off a portion of his leg near a beach on Maui, witnesses and authorities say.

The shark attack happened Friday around 7 a.m. local time in the waters near Waiehu Beach Park at a surf spot called Sand Piles, Maui County officials said in a release.

“I heard this yell and I looked, and all of a sudden, I just seen a splash, and I don’t know what was happening,” one witness, David Basques, told CNN affiliate KHNL.

“He swam himself back maybe more than half the way, and then I seen somebody jump in,” Basques told KHNL, adding that the person who jumped in helped bring the man the rest of the way to the shore.

Police, fire and medical personnel arrived shortly afterward and worked to stop the bleeding from the surfer’s leg, which was severed below the knee, authorities said.

The man was alert while being treated onshore, officials said. He was taken to a Maui hospital in critical condition. The man remained hospitalized Saturday in serious condition, a Maui Memorial Medical Center spokesperson told CNN via email.

Maui Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Giesea said Maui police’s “quick action” of applying tourniquets to the man’s leg is the kind of decision that often makes the difference “between life and death,” he told KHNL.

“I would like to commend the patient for his strength and wherewithal getting himself to shore,” Giesea said, according to KHNL. “I mean, now that’s extraordinary.” The fire chief also thanked good Samaritans who assisted the victim.

The entrance to Waiehu Beach Park was closed after the incident and beachgoers were advised to stay out of the waters in the area until further notice, according to the release.

Maui County has recorded at least 75 unprovoked shark attacks since 1828, and eight people in Hawaii were attacked by sharks last year – one of them fatally, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.

Surfers and people participating in board sports made up 42% of reported shark attack incidents last year globally, the International Shark Attack File’s 2023 report shows.