Guy Bitten by Tiger Shark, Posts Video of Wound

Hawaii spear fisherman gets out alive
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 21, 2015 6:40 PM CDT
Guy Bitten by Tiger Shark, Posts Video of Wound
A Sand Tiger Shark swims in its aquarium at the Zoo-Aquarium in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010.   (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

A Hawaii spear fisherman who was bit in the leg by a tiger shark off the coast of the Big Island swam to shore and then filmed a video of his deep wound as he was being carried away on a gurney. "I just got attacked by a tiger shark," an exasperated Braxton Rocha, 27, of Kapaau, Hawaii, said in the shaky video posted to Instagram. (It's been pulled, but Mashable has the embed set up in case it comes back.) The footage pans down the man's body to a gaping gash in the middle of his left leg. "Love you, brah," a friend standing near him says. "Love you too, brah," Rocha replies before the clip ends. A tiger shark believed to be 13 feet long bit Rocha's leg yesterday as he spearfished off the northern tip of the Big Island, officials say.

He swam to shore after the attack, and his fishing companion called 911, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources says in a press release. Rocha was flown by helicopter to a hospital for surgery. His condition was not immediately known. State officials say they did not close beaches because the attack happened in a remote area off Upolu Point. It had rained heavily, and they warned people not to go into the ocean afterward because murky water can attract sharks. The attack marked the fourth shark injury in Hawaii in 2015, all of which occurred in turbid waters. Only one of those encounters was fatal. A female snorkeler died from her injuries off the coast of Maui in April when an unknown species of shark bit her. (More shark attack stories.)

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