14-year-old bitten by a shark in waters says he’s ready to go surfing again
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KANEOHE, Hawaii (KITV) — Even after receiving more than 100 stitches, the 14-year-old boy bitten by a shark in waters off Kaneohe last week says he’s ready to go surfing again.
Parker Blanchette says this wasn’t his first run-in with a shark. Blanchette is an 8th grader that surfs at North Beach about six-times per week. After around three-hours in the water last Monday, he was bitten by a shark as he jumped-off a wave.
“It felt like a little punch to my leg and I immediately hopped on my board after seeing the blood and paddled to shore,” Blanchette said.
The injuries he received forced him to stay in the hospital for two nights. Somehow, Parker says it was no big deal.
“There’s not much to it. We’re kind of in their territory. It’s just kinda like getting struck by lightning. Such a little possibility,” Blanchette said.
But to his mother, it was a big deal.
“He said hey mom, I need you to come pick me up. I got bit by a shark and I’m gonna need a couple of stitches,” Amanda Blanchette, Parker’s mom, said. “I got down here and it was more than a couple of stitches… Parker was just so cool, calm and collected on the phone.”
Lifeguards report there’s increased shark activity at North Beach between April and June because it’s breeding and birthing season.
“We see anywhere between 5 ft. and 20 ft. Tigers, hammers, reef sharks, all kinds,” Clark Abbey, MCBH Kaneohe Bay Beach lifeguard supervisor, said.
Two-lifeguards watch over that area on weekdays. If and when there’s a shark sighting, they close the beach until no activity is observed for 45 minutes. Despite all the reported sightings, Abbey says he has never heard of a shark attack at that beach.
“They pass in and they pass out. To us, it wasn’t a question of if, it was a question of when it happens,” Abbey said.
In his words, Blanchette says the injuries will leave a sick scar, that he says will look epic. The incident also did not change his desire to be a big wave surfer in the future.
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