Surfer Kai McKenzie who lost leg in shark attack back on board to face his fears after four months
Four months after being mauled by a great white, Kai McKenzie pulled off a remarkable feat, with video showing him surfing one-legged: no prosthetic required.
NSW
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Four months after his harrowing attack by a 15ft great white shark that mauled his right leg, Kai McKenzie paddles out to the scene of the crime and honoured his promise to “get back in that water in no time”.
Accomplished surfer McKenzie, 23, who promised to “f--k sh-t up with a prosthetic,” took off his artificial limb and got back to riding the waves and practising new moves.
The defiant sponsored surfer paddled out to the spot with laser focus, catching several waves, jumping on his board with one leg and occasionally steering it with one hand when it veered off course.
Buoyed by the support of his parents, uncle and friends, Kai appeared at ease in the water despite admitting he was “wigging out a little bit …” because the water looked “exactly like that day.”
Posting about his triumphant return to water on social media he declared: “We back bitches.”
He later wrote of his return to the ocean: “Probably one of the craziest feelings I’ve had!”
“First time back in the water last week I paddled back out where I got bit.
“I sat out there by myself and took it in for a little bit than a bunch of my favourite people had a surf with me. Ya ain’t never gunna take me away from the ocean!”
The Bonny Hills surfer was six weeks ago fitted with a prosthetic above the knee, and is said to be working on getting a surf-specific one.
He has remained largely upbeat since his discharge from John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle where he spent more than one month after the attack at North Shore Beach, just north of Port Macquarie on July 23.
His life was saved by an off-duty police officer, who fabricated a dog leash into a tourniquet to halt the severe blood loss.
McKenzie’s leg washed up onshore an hour later and was packed with ice, but it could not be reattached.
After the initial shock, he kept his spirits uplifted by his mission to return to the water before the end of the year.
Recently, Kai opened up to Stab magazine saying describing the situation as a “s--t show.”
“I don’t want to be associated with this forever. I don’t want it to become my whole identity,” he told the magazine.
In the interview, he vowed to return to the water before the end of the year and said: “I’m going to f--k sh-t up with a prosthetic.”
Byron Bay adaptive surfing champion Mark ‘Mono’ Stewart, 62, praised Kai’s “brave” return to the ocean saying “That fear of the shark would have been behind him as he was paddling out and will always remain him.
“Losing your leg to a shark is one of the most horrific experiences ever but getting back out there is extremely courageous, he’s a very determined man,” he said.
“Kai has an above the knee amputation, just like me, and it’s hard to surf with one leg at first because your balanced and when you wipe out you’ve only got one leg to swing back up. ”
Mr Stewart, who lost his right leg to an aggressive cancer when he was 15, and who won his sixth Association of Adaptive Surfing Professionals world title two months ago, said: “Kai will never be full radical but he’s young and he’ll adapt fast.
“There are boards that are brilliant and he’ll be able to take part in the Paralympics by kneeling or standing.”
“He’s taken his first - and biggest- steps by getting out there, it can only get better from here,” he said.
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