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68-Year-Old Fends Off Attack from 12-Foot Tiger Shark After Having 'Chunk' Bitten Straight from Body

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A 68-year-old swimmer was forced to defend his life against a large shark that attacked him not far from shore, multiple sources report.

After having a “chunk” bitten from his hip and buttocks area, the frequent beach-goer fought the shark off with a diving knife.

According to KITV, emergency crews were dispatched to Anaehoomalu Bay at the Lava Lava Beach Club in Waikoloa Village just after 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday. They arrived to find an unnamed man who was lucky to be alive.

The man had reportedly been attacked by a 12-foot tiger shark, lost a “chunk” of his body to it, and still managed to compel it to release him with a diving knife. How far he was reported to be from shore at the time varies depending on the source.

“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, a witness to the attack, said according to KITV.

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“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.”

After the unnamed man managed to fight the massive animal off, nearby paddleboarders helped extract him from the water.

According to Hawaii News Now, witnesses said the man was coherent and responsive by the time he was taken to shore.

“Our friend, yesterday, was right out there where the swimmer was,” witness Anna Kathryn Sengupta said according to Hawaii News Now. “I guess it’s just wrong place, wrong time.”

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The man was reportedly taken to North Hawaii Community Hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.

Officials have since posted warning signs at the beach to make the public aware of the danger.

This incident occurred less than a week after a woman was reportedly attacked off the coast of Maui, SFGATE reports.

While shark attacks are exceptionally rare, they do still occur.

According to Tracking Sharks, there have been 91 shark attack bites in 2022, 16 of which were provoked. This is up from 81 attack bites in 2021, and 76 in 2020.

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Eight of those confirmed attacks were fatal, with one more not yet listed because it’s yet to be verified. This unverified attack appears to be the one referenced earlier in this story.

Of all of those attacks, only six have been reportedly confirmed in Hawaii.

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