Tourist loses part of leg in Hawaii shark attack

Ruth Doherty
Tourist loses part of leg in Hawaii shark attack
Tourist loses part of leg in Hawaii shark attack

A French man has lost part of his leg after a shark attack while surfing in Hawaii.

The attack on the surfer, called Baboo, was witnessed by a man called Mac Pigott who has shared images of the victim smiling from his hospital bed on Saturday.

See also: How to survive a shark attack

See also: Eagle ray leaps into air to escape shark attack

The attack occurred on Friday at Davidson's Beach on the island of Kaui.

The man was taken to hospital and doctors amputated one of his legs below the knee, according to Fox News.

The Daily Mail reports that Baboo was in positive spirits, suggesting he was going to now compete in the Paralympics.

Amazingly good spirits. The minute we walked in the door, Baboo flashed a big smile and shaka! Such a positive attitude, with his girlfriend friend Katia by his side, Baboo told us: "2018, you will see me win the 2018 winter Paralympics". Such a positive attitude for a man who just had his leg amputated 12 centimeters below his knee. The next thing on his mind were the two young boys who were in the water with him. You can see the two middle school boys in my first post yesterday tending to him on the beach moments after the attack. Baboo asked us how they were doing, it was heavy on his mind, he said very sincerely: "I hope this does not stop them from surfing". Baboo was a competitive skier in France training for the Olympic trials at the age of 17 when he injured his knee. After reconstructive surgery he got back to skiing and snowboarding. The next summer he and a friend traveled to the south of France where they began teaching themselves to surf. He said at first it was so difficult to catch a wave, but once on his feet it was like snowboarding and he could just go! Eventually he traveled and surfed all around Australia before coming back to France and becoming a certified ISA instructor, teaching others his love for surfing. It was that love for surfing that brought them to Kauai, and on their way to Polihale saw people surfing at Davidson's. he told me: "the waves looked so nice I just stopped and paddled out there". As he described the attack he did visibly tremble with emotions for a moment as he relived the attack. Baboo explained: "I was not as scared as you might think, and it did not hurt that bad immediately, I was just fighting him, pounding his head and looking into his eye" . He said it was his board that saved him, the shark was trying to pull him under so he held tight to the board with one hand and hitting the shark with his other hand. As I listened to Baboo tell his story I remembered seeing it from the shore, a memory I will always have. There will a fund set up to help Baboo recover and make it to the 2018 winter Paralympics! I will post details soon.

A post shared by Ray F Mac Pigott (@coachmac08) on Apr 15, 2017 at 10:38am PDT


Pigott wrote: "'2018, you will see me win the 2018 winter Paralympics', Baboo said.

"Such a positive attitude for a man who just had his leg amputated 12 centimetres below his knee."

Several people have asked for details of the injury and his status. One of the emergency personnel told me that he had a severed fibula but his tibula was intact. I saw a lot of shredded flesh to the bones. I am sure he is getting good care at whatever hospital he is in

A post shared by Ray F Mac Pigott (@coachmac08) on Apr 14, 2017 at 3:05pm PDT

He added that Baboo himself said he survived the attack by holding on tightly to his surf board with one hand and hitting the shark with the other.

The surfing instructor explained: "I was not as scared as you might think, and it did not hurt that bad immediately, I was just fighting him, pounding his head and looking into his eyes."

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