A surfer whose after he was mauled by a shark has vowed to return to the water. Australian sponsored surfer Kai McKenzie also said the , in which a suspected tore his leg off, had “scared the living f*** out” of him. The 23-year-old was surfing off North Shore beach in Port Macquarie in New South Wales, , on Tuesday July 23 when he was set upon by the beast.
, the brave Aussie managed to catch a wave to shore on his damaged board while his leg bled out. An off-duty cop fashioned a tourniquet out of his dog’s lead to stem the bleeding. Shortly after the attack, his severed leg washed up on shore.
Kai and his leg were airlifted to a major trauma centre some 200km away in Newcastle, where doctors hoped to reattach it. While it has not been revealed whether or not doctors attempted the reattachment surgery, Kai, has spoken out about this ordeal in a recent Instagram post as he recovers. He thanked the “many beautiful people” and “legends” who have supported him since the attack, and said that being able to hold his “beautiful” girlfriend Eve and his family is “everything”.
He added: “A few days ago I went through a crazy shark attack (biggest shark I’ve ever seen) which was a very crazy scene and scared the living f*** out of me. “I can tell you know if you know my personality this mean f*** all. I’ll be back in that water in no time.
” He finished his post saying:“big f*** off to that shark and big thanks to Steve for saving my life.” At the time of the attack, Kai’s sponsor Rage described the surfer as “the toughest person” they knew. In a post wishing Kai a swift recovery, they wrote: “Sending love to Kai, the youngest RAGE boy on the team and the toughest person that we know.
“Yesterday he was attacked by a shark and has lost his leg while surfing in Port Macquarie. “He has been through a lot, breaking his back (neck verterbrae) last year. He never once complained always just got with doing what he loves as soon as possible.
He is an inspiring person. “The whole rage gang loves you man and we will see you soon.” A GoFundMe page was set up to help Kai with his recovery which has so far raised AUD$159,790 (£81,500).
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