Father bitten by shark while surfing suffers gruesome injuries to both legs

HONOLULU (KHNL/Gray News) - A veteran surfer and father of two from Hawaii suffered serious injuries to both legs when he was bitten by a shark, but he managed to paddle back to shore and crawl across the sand to get help.

Koa Smith, 38, was surfing off Oahu’s South Shore on May 30 when he felt something grab him from behind.

“It really did feel like somebody just came from behind, grabbed my ankle and pulled,” he said. “I was just confused. So, I turned around to see who’s doing this, who’s grabbing me, and yeah, it was just a shark.”

Koa Smith believes he was bitten by an 8-foot Galapagos shark. Despite suffering severe injuries to his leg and foot, he managed to make it back to shore at Cromwell’s Beach. He crawled across the sand and yelled for help before three bystanders rushed to assist him until first responders arrived.

The incident left the husband and father of two with a 10-inch wound on one leg and a 5-inch wound on the other.

“It’s my left leg. The whole side of my calf is pretty much wide open,” he said. “And then, my right foot has a pretty big gash on it. Yeah, so it got both legs.”

Koa Smith underwent multiple surgeries after he was bitten and remains hospitalized at The Queen’s Medical Center. His wife, Dennae Smith, recalled learning about the incident when her husband’s brother came to their home.

“Koa’s brother actually came to our bedroom window and was yelling for me,” she said. “The first thing he said was, ‘He’s OK, but he got attacked by a shark.’”

The Smiths say they faced difficult conversations with their children as the family processed the incident.

“They had a lot of really intelligent questions about it,” Dennae Smith said. “Our son understood a little bit more than our 4-year-old. He just was really bummed that Koa didn’t have a shark tooth to have as a souvenir, but they took it really well.”

Koa Smith, an Oahu-born surfer and self-employed carpenter, spent four years working as a Coast Guard lifeguard. He says the ocean has been a central part of his life for decades.

“I’ve been in the water my entire life,” he said. “Surfing over 30 years, but I also dive, body surf, body board. Pretty much my entire life is in the ocean.”

Despite being bitten by a shark, he has no plans to stay out of the water permanently.

“Just watching on Instagram all the waves that I’m missing kind of sucks,” he said. “But as soon as the doctors let me, I’m back out there.”

Doctors expect Koa Smith to make a full recovery in about six weeks, and he could be released from the hospital soon.