The lifeguard mauled by a tiger shark in Hawaii has spoken in detail for the first time about how he survived the attack.
Chance Swanson, 33, an ocean safety officer and surfer from Kauai, was bitten on his left leg by a tiger shark while surfing in Hanalei Bay on November 5.
Local lifeguards on duty spotted him using binoculars and noticed he was floating on his back with a big red stain around him.
They retrieved him on a rescue ski and applying a tourniquet while still in the water, bringing him to shore.
Swanson, who suffered severe injuries including blood vessel and tendon damage, was treated at Wilcox Medical Center before being airlifted to Queen’s Medical Center, where he was put on a ventilator.
Miraculously, he survived after emergency treatment and skin grafting surgery – and faces up to a year of recovery as severed nerves regenerate in his injured leg.
Now, Swanson says he has no fear about returning to the ocean, as a lifeguard and surfer.
“Yeah, I plan on doing both if I get the full function of my foot again and if I can pass the yearly physical test,” he said.
“I think I’ll definitely take better precautions.
“I think I’m going to get a Garmin watch and a shark band,” he added, referring to technology that could have expedited his rescue and potentially prevented the attack.
“I think I could have gotten help a lot quicker having that feature.
As for the shark band, he explained it as a device “where you put your leash on your ankle. I guess it can repel sharks nearby.”
He added: “It’s like a magnetic feature.”
Swanson’s attack was so sudden and violent that he knew immediately what was happening, even if he couldn’t see the shark.
“I knew without even seeing the shark that I was getting bit by a shark,” he said.
“I was just saying my prayers to Jesus Christ, either to help me survive this or take me to heaven.”
Two friends responded immediately on a personal watercraft, noting one “jumped off and got me” before applying a tourniquet to his wounds.
Following the attack, Hanalei Bay was closed with “Shark Sighted – No Swimming” signs posted along the beach, and lifeguards continue to patrol the area to warn visitors, as shark sightings persist.
Swanson recently completed what he hopes will be his final major surgery – a skin graft that used tissue from his thigh to close the wound.
“Pretty relieved to be done with major surgeries,” he said.
His doctor was able to locate and repair the severed nerve, welding it back together with tissue from his heel, but the timeline for healing is unpredictable.
“My nerve was cut pretty good, and they were able to find it and weld it back together with part of my heel,” Swanson said.
“It could be anywhere from weeks, months, to a year, depending on how fast that nerve will grow back from my leg down to my foot.
“My mind was replaying the incident a lot without me even trying.
“I just, my mind kept replaying the incident.”
Yet alongside the trauma came an unexpected revelation about his place in the community.
“I didn’t realize how loved I was and just how many people reached out,” he said. “It was overwhelming in a good way.”
His experience has also reinforced his advocacy for better support of first responders and medical facilities.
He said: “We have to get more people to support Queen’s hospital and ocean safety on all the islands of Hawaii.”
Swanson’s mother has set up a GoFundMe to help cover medical costs.
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