‘Shark just wouldn’t let go.’ Surfer loses foot after attack off Hawaii, family says
Surfer Mike Morita knew immediately that he was in trouble when something grabbed his leg while he waited for a wave in Kewalo Basin on Oahu.
“It wasn’t really like a chomp,” Morita told KHON. “It was just pressure. I can feel the strength of it and right away I knew it was a shark.”
The shark pulled Morita, 58, underwater as he tried to fight back, his son Kamu Morita told Hawaii News Now.
“It was a struggle according to him, he got a few blows in, but the shark just wouldn’t let go,” his son told the station. “Somehow after he was getting tossed around, he kind of came face-to-face with (the shark) with his foot still in its mouth and he was able to kind of bear hug it and dig the gills and eyes and that’s really when it finally let go.”
His fellow surfers came to his rescue, tying a makeshift tourniquet on his leg out of surf leashes, McClatchy News reported.
“It’s a close community we got out there and we always look out for each other,” Mike Morita told KHON. “And sure enough, when I needed it, they came together and they came to me and they saved my life.”
But he did end up losing his right foot from his injuries, his family told Hawaii News Now.
Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources officials say it appears an 8-foot tiger shark attacked Morita just before 7 a.m. Sunday, April 9, McClatchy News reported.
Shark warning signs were posted and people were warned to stay out of the water until noon Monday, April 10, state officials said. A dive boat with 30 passengers left the area after being warned.
Morita, who is still recovering in the hospital, told KHON he’s thankful to be alive and hopes to surf again.
The United States led the world in unprovoked shark attacks in 2022, with 41 confirmed cases, the International Shark Attack File of the Florida Museum reported.
Hawaii accounted for five of the attacks, with one fatality. Florida had the most at 16.
This story was originally published April 13, 2023 at 3:08 PM with the headline "‘Shark just wouldn’t let go.’ Surfer loses foot after attack off Hawaii, family says."