Teenage Surfer Survives Shark Attack In Hawaii Protected By Surfboard

If there is such a thing as luck – or a second life – then Max Keliikipi would be the latest on Lady Luck's list as he survived a shark attack and lived to tell about it.

The 16-year old Hawaiian surfer recalled that it was around 7:30PM when he decided to catch a wave about a hundred yards offshore from Makaha Beach. While waiting, Keliikipi noticed what he thought was a “turtle fin.” Little did he knew that it was one of the ocean's most feared predator.

When he finally realized that it was a shark, Keliikipi said in an interview with Kron4 that it went “underneath the water.” Instinct kicked in and he put his feet on top of his board.

“I'm just sitting there, looking around for it,” he added. He also described the shark to be somewhere between ten to twelve feet long.

Sensing that Keliikipi and his board were food, the shark lunged and bit a portion of the surfboard. The force threw him to the water, but as a junior lifeguard, Keliikipi's survival impluse kicked in.

"It was the fight or flight thing, and for me it was just flight,” he said, while admitting that there was a “fear factor.” Keliikipi swam and didn't even bother to look for the shark. He made it to shore uninjured, but his board was evidence of what might have been his fate had it turned the other way around.

The surfer also told KHON2 that the shark was bigger than his head and that he didn't realize how big it was.

Keliikipi's near death experience came in three months after an unidentified 65-year old man died after he was attacked by a shark off the coast of Maui. Witness Allison Keller told Hawaii News Now that she “saw some blood on his stomach” and the skin on his wrist was torn off.

The witness added that the entire left leg from his knee down was missing.

KRON4 likewise reported that there has been a spike in shark attacks recently. The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources counted seven attacks just this year. In 2018, the Department tallied three and five in 2017.

Keliikipi has learned his lesson. He adnitted that he has seen several sharks in that area, but his recent run-in with one – and surfing alone – will be the last thing that will cross his mind.