Graphic video emerges of shark attack victim Kai McKenzie’s daredevil past
Unstoppable shark attack victim Kai McKenzie says nothing will prevent him from surfing again as wild footage has emerged of a horror skateboarding mishap. WARNING: GRAPHIC.
Regional News
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Shark attack victim Kai McKenzie is no stranger to the risks of getting radical.
First it was a skateboarding mishap, resulting in a shattered jaw and eight smashed out teeth.
Then – a broken neck in a moshpit.
And most recently – a completely severed leg from a great white shark.
No matter what the universe has thrown at McKenzie, it’s all water off a duck’s back for the 23-year-old daredevil, who vows to return to the water – and to the height of his surfing powers – at any cost.
The Bonny Hills surfer lost his right leg after being attacked by the 3m shark off Port Macquarie’s isolated North Shore Beach on July 23.
His life was saved by an off-duty cop after his damaged leg was tourniqueted using a dog leash before he was stabilised and rushed to hospital, suffering severe blood loss.
Despite McKenzie’s leg washing up onshore an hour later and being packed with ice, it could not be reattached.
In a social media update on Tuesday, McKenzie posted a photo of him surfing into a barrel, and wrote: “Looking forward to the day I get back to here, I’m gunna (sic) push everything I have to get there.”
“I know it’s gunna (sic) be a long journey but it’s going to happen and all your support has fired me up to get there. So let’s get it” he wrote.
Before McKenzie’s shark attack, NewsLocal revealed that he had only returned to the water just months after fracturing his neck in a moshpit.
Now, a video from 2019 has emerged from renowned skateboarding magazine Thrasher, showing McKenzie suffering gruesome injuries after falling during a manouever down a flight of stairs.
In the video, McKenzie attempts a ledge grind before landing on the tail of his board, which flings up and hits him in the face.
In slow motion, several of his teeth are shown scattered across the ground.
McKenzie is then shown with a mouth full of blood and missing teeth.
He lost eight teeth and completely shattered his jaw, requiring extensive surgery.
On McKenzie’s Instagram update on Tuesday, family, friends and supporters backed his fierce determination to return to the extreme sports he loves.
His father Grant wrote: “Love ya mate. With that steel in your eyes I know you will. I am going to be with you, staring straight back at you hooting my f--king lungs out when it happens!”
Bryce Baker added: “You f--king hammer.”
Some of McKenzie’s supporters said he was “full beast mode” and that “we have no doubt”.
Nathan North wrote: “If anyone can you can”.
Most of the people commenting on McKenzie’s post commended his “positive energy”.
On Sunday, a surfing fundraiser event for McKenzie was held at Bonny Hills near Port Macquarie, with some of the country’s top young surfers in attendance.
A GoFundMe for McKenzie has raised over $190,000 towards an adjusted $250,000 target.
Got a story tip? Email sam.stolz@news.com.au
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