Surfing vet dies in Hawaiian shark attack
IOL : Surfing vet dies in Hawaiian shark attack
April 10 2004 at 12:10AM
A surfer has been killed while riding the waves off the coast of Hawaii in the first confirmed fatal shark attack in the island paradise in 12 years.
Shark control officials in the offshore American state said 57-year-old Willis McInnis died after being bitten on the leg while paddling for waves off Kahana Beach on the island of Maui, a key tourist destination.
'I understand he received some assistance, got to the shore and then passed away at the scene,' Randy Honebrink, a spokesperson for the state's Shark Task Force said.
'Most likely the species would have been a Tiger shark. A lot of them are there. It was a fairly large shark, they are responsible for these types of attacks,' he said.
'Most likely the species would have been a Tiger shark'
While there are three or four shark attacks off Hawaii each year, this week's attack was the first confirmed shark fatality here since 1992, Honebrink said.
Hawaii resident McInnis was paddling his surfboard in the water about 150m off the beach when the predator struck at about 7am, local news reports said. Fellow surfers rallied to save the bleeding victim.
'I heard him yelling, 'Help! Help me!'' his friend and surf buddy Roger Coombs told the Maui News, adding that he saw McInnis lying on top of his board in water that was three to 4,5 metres deep.
Coombs said he could see a 'big chunk had been taken out of the right back thigh - just below the buttocks.' He also could see McInnis was losing massive amounts of blood.
"I was trying to buck him up. Make him feel better and make him feel that somebody was here. 'You're going to be OK. We're going to get you in'," he said of his efforts to get veteran surfer McInnis back to shore.
'Help! Help me!'
The surfer suffered severe lacerations to his upper right thigh and calf, officials said.
Police, paramedics and bystanders battled to save his life, but he died of extensive loss of blood.
"Will was alive. He was talking. He was holding onto his board with his hands," his shocked friend Tina Cooper told reporters of the moments after the attack.
Lifeguards immediately hoisted shark warning signs and closed a 3,2km stretch of beach as boats and aircraft patrolled the ocean for sharks.
There were four shark attacks reported in Hawaii in 2003, including one on October 31 when 13-year-old surfer Bethany Hamilton had her left arm ripped off in the water off the small island of Kauai.
The plucky teenager survived and has returned to surfing.
The last confirmed shark attack death in Hawaii was that of 18-year-old surfer Aaron Romento off the island of Oahu in 1992. - Sapa-AFP
April 10 2004 at 12:10AM
A surfer has been killed while riding the waves off the coast of Hawaii in the first confirmed fatal shark attack in the island paradise in 12 years.
Shark control officials in the offshore American state said 57-year-old Willis McInnis died after being bitten on the leg while paddling for waves off Kahana Beach on the island of Maui, a key tourist destination.
'I understand he received some assistance, got to the shore and then passed away at the scene,' Randy Honebrink, a spokesperson for the state's Shark Task Force said.
'Most likely the species would have been a Tiger shark. A lot of them are there. It was a fairly large shark, they are responsible for these types of attacks,' he said.
'Most likely the species would have been a Tiger shark'
While there are three or four shark attacks off Hawaii each year, this week's attack was the first confirmed shark fatality here since 1992, Honebrink said.
Hawaii resident McInnis was paddling his surfboard in the water about 150m off the beach when the predator struck at about 7am, local news reports said. Fellow surfers rallied to save the bleeding victim.
'I heard him yelling, 'Help! Help me!'' his friend and surf buddy Roger Coombs told the Maui News, adding that he saw McInnis lying on top of his board in water that was three to 4,5 metres deep.
Coombs said he could see a 'big chunk had been taken out of the right back thigh - just below the buttocks.' He also could see McInnis was losing massive amounts of blood.
"I was trying to buck him up. Make him feel better and make him feel that somebody was here. 'You're going to be OK. We're going to get you in'," he said of his efforts to get veteran surfer McInnis back to shore.
'Help! Help me!'
The surfer suffered severe lacerations to his upper right thigh and calf, officials said.
Police, paramedics and bystanders battled to save his life, but he died of extensive loss of blood.
"Will was alive. He was talking. He was holding onto his board with his hands," his shocked friend Tina Cooper told reporters of the moments after the attack.
Lifeguards immediately hoisted shark warning signs and closed a 3,2km stretch of beach as boats and aircraft patrolled the ocean for sharks.
There were four shark attacks reported in Hawaii in 2003, including one on October 31 when 13-year-old surfer Bethany Hamilton had her left arm ripped off in the water off the small island of Kauai.
The plucky teenager survived and has returned to surfing.
The last confirmed shark attack death in Hawaii was that of 18-year-old surfer Aaron Romento off the island of Oahu in 1992. - Sapa-AFP
posted by DP at 1:31 AM
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