Hawaii Shark Attack: Surfer Loses Leg In Attack Off Oahu’s North Shore

Braxton Rocha, who was attacked and severely injured by a 13-foot tiger shark off the north coast of the Big Island in September, saw the news of Friday’s attack and said it brought him back to what he went through.

Doctors at Queens Medical Center in Honolulu later completed the amputation on his leg, Chris Webster, Cook’s cousin, told KHON 2, a Hawaii television station. He said it’s heart-breaking that doctors had to amputate above the knee, but that Cook is in good spirits.

Colin Cook was straddling his board with both legs dangling in the water when the 10- to 12-foot shark latched onto his lower leg, media reports said. Emergency service personnel say the group’s quick actions ultimately helped save the surfer’s life. In 2014, there were six shark attacks statewide. He said he would like to visit Friday’s victim to help him in any way he can.

“I’m speechless right now”, he said.

Today’s incident was not the first time a shark has bitten a surfer at the Leftovers break. Bystanders used a surfboard leash as a tourniquet to control the bleeding.

According to witnesses, the shark was about 10 to 12 feet long, but officials said they did not the know the species or size. A large shark latched onto the surfer’s left leg and severed it from the knee down.

Ocean Safety and the Honolulu Fire Department personnel are patrolling the same areas Saturday morning and at noon, if there are no shark sightings, an all-clear will be given.

“The patient suffered critical injuries to his left leg… and he did suffer a few abrasions to his hand, mostly trying to fend off the shark”.

Forty-three of this year’s attacks (one of them fatal) occurred in the United States, more than half of them (22) in Florida.