10/15/2023 Kevin Kanehe Hanalei Bay, Kauai Hawaii

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Hawaiian surfer survives tiger shark attack by “sticking finger in its nostril”
Derek Rielly

By Derek Rielly

18 hours ago

When he was paddling in after the attack he thought, “If I lose my leg I’m getting a prosthetic like Mike Coots so I can surf again.”

A wild old tale of survival in the news this morn after a fifty-year-old surfer survived a shark attack by giving the animal hell and jamming his fingers into its nostrils.

Kevin Kanehe was surfing at Hanalei Bay, yeah the same joint that Andy and Bruce owned in the early 2000’s, when the shark, a fifteen-foot tiger, hit him on the leg.

According to an account posted on his GoFundMe page, 31k of 75k raised ‘cause this is the US and ain’t no government gonna pull you outta your hole shark attack or not,

“He was paddling for a wave, sat up on his board to turn around and got hit hard from the left side. People that saw it have guessed 12-15 foot tiger shark.

“The jaws grabbed ahold of his left leg and Kevin used his hands to try to lift it off, one of his fingers went in its nostrils and then it let go. Later the doctor said if it had clamped down and completed the bite he would have lost his leg

“Kevin paddled in with the help of Jeff McBride.”

On the beach a gal had a tourniquet and bandages to staunch the flow of claret.

“The bite went to the bone above and below his knee, taking some chips off his femur, knee cap and tibia. He his knee was torn up pretty bad and into his joint too.There is still concern for infection.

“Dr. Ravinsky did a great job with the surgery to repair all he could with what was still there but Some muscle tissue was lost. His right hand ring and pinky fingers were sliced open and tendons cut. He will have surgery today to repair.

“He will remain in the hospital and the recovery will be tough, Doctor says maybe a year before full recovery.

“Everyone has said how calm Kevin was throughout it all. His state of mind is good and he remembers every detail and thought he had.

“I can’t believe when he was paddling in moments after it happened his thought was, “If I lose my leg I’m going to get a prosthetic like Mike Coots so I can surf again.”

The Hanalei attack has echoes of the Great White hit on Toby Begg at Port Macquarie a couple of months back.

Begg was dragged so far underwater it went dark and he thought he was going to drown. He was only able to swim for the surface after his foot ripped off at the ankle.

Back on the surface, the White hit him again, Begg scrunching into a ball, which would save his life, but causing his leg to take most of the impact.

“Then he was on the surface punching it in the head for ages,” said our source in Port Mac. “Both his hands were balloons from hitting it. After 30 seconds it let go and he started paddling in. It’d severed the femoral artery in his leg and the only thing that saved him was there was a doctor and emergency room nurse walking on the beach (separately who didn’t know each other).”

Lesson? Hit the cunts and pray for a medico on the beach.

https://beachgrit.com