While swimming at Lanikai Beach on East Coast of Oahu last weekend, Tony Lee, 44, suffered severe injuries to his legs after being attacked by what he referred to as a “massive shark.” And while the incident is extremely tragic, Tony’s actions following the attack are nothing short of courageous.
“Just out of nowhere, I felt a yank on my legs and that was surprising. And I looked back, and that’s when I saw the shark, and I couldn’t believe it,” Tony told KITV. “He was a big guy and he had both my legs in his mouth.”
The shark was determined to pull him underwater, but Tony wasn’t going to surrender without a fight.
“I had goggles on, so I could see things really clearly, and I kept thinking that if I just kept punching him he would let me go,” said Tony. “He pulled me down one last time, so I just reached out and put my finger in his eye and pulled out his eyeball. And so he let go. So I got to the surface. I was holding his eyeball. So I let it go and was treading water.”
Fortunately, a father and son, who were canoeing close by, responded to Tony’s cries and came to his rescue, paddling him to shore.
“I could feel the blood leaving my body, and there was a big trail. And the kayakers told me they saw a big blood slick going back,” said Tony. “I really thought I was dead there. I mean the guy was paddling as hard as he could but we were pretty far from shore.”
Lee is currently recovering in a local hospital. He lost a foot but he’s scheduled to undergo surgery to save the other.
