Surfer Who Lost His Leg in Shark Attack Wants to Return to the Water: 'I'm Lucky'

Mar. 15, 2025

Kenji Nonaka.Photo:Hawaii News Now/YouTube

Hawaii News Now/YouTube

A 61-year-old surfer who lost his leg in a Hawaii shark attack earlier this month said he’s already determined to return to the water.

On Friday, Nov. 1,officials in Mauiannounced that a man was bitten on the leg while surfing at the “Sand Piles” on Waiehu Beach Park, before his leg was completely severed “just below the knee.”

Now, Kenji Nonaka is reflecting on his shark encounter while speaking with local outletsKGMB/KHNLandKHON, revealing that he considers himself to be “lucky” and is looking forward to surfing again.

“I’m sitting on my surfboard, waiting for a wave and suddenly, a shark bites me, then shakes me," Nonaka told KGMB of the attack. “Maybe 20 to 30 seconds later, my leg [is] gone! I’m screaming.”

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Per KHON, Nonaka said he started feeling nervous about sharks after one bit a board in the same area months back. Since then, he’d been hitting the waves with a shark band that used magnetic energy to deter the animals.

But on Nov. 1, while surfing with friends, a shark indeed bit him. Nonaka’s friend Gary Miyamoto, who was surfing with him at the time and ultimately fashioned a surfboard leash around his leg as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, described his friend’s scream as a “big, different yell.”

“Then I see him, you know, splashing around," Miyamoto told the outlet. “All of a sudden, I see the water turn red.”

As Myamoto explained, after his friend eventually caught a wave to bring himself closer to shore, the surfboard leash was the “only thing” they had at the time.

“That’s why I’m still alive,” Nonaka said. “I’m lucky. I’m so grateful because my friends, they helped me.”

Stock image of Waiehu Beach Park in Maui.Getty

Getty

Nonaka, who has reportedly lived in Wailuku for 34 years, lost most of his right leg from the knee down in the shark attack, per KGMB. AGoFundMepage dedicated to the surfer has already raised over $100,000 toward his healing journey.

On Thursday, Nov. 7, a campaign update noted that he was released from the hospital and was “super motivated to begin the rehab and recovery process to get back into the ocean he loves.”

According to KHON, Nonaka’s doctor told him he could keep his knee because his leg was clean — as his friends took him to a concrete area on shore to avoid sand when they applied the leash.

“They came to me and gave me power and aloha and I am happy that’s why I’m still alive,” he said.

The surfer also said that he believed someone was watching over him during the tragedy — his “hero"Tamayo Perry, who was killed in a shark attack at Oahu’s North Shore in June 2024.

Nonaka is already standing up again and doing dips on his walker two weeks after the shark attack, per KGMB. He’s also waiting for his next time on the surfboard.

“I love surfing, I want to go back surfing, as for the shark it’s their property [the ocean], that’s why we have to share,” he added.

source: people.com