A 19-year-old Kaneohe man is recovering at the Queen’s Medical Center after being seriously injured Monday by what was believed to be a 9- to 12-foot tiger shark at White Plains Beach near Barbers Point.

Kiowa Gatewood, a Kame­ha­meha Schools graduate who works as a server at Ruby Tuesday at Windward Mall, underwent emergency surgery on his left leg following the shark bite.

Gatewood said he was surfing with a friend at White Plains at about 2 p.m. when he looked over and saw a shark.

"All of a sudden, I turn my head and I see like a huge shark come out of the water, and before I even could realize what was happening, it bit me," Gatewood said from his hospital bed.

"I then hit it and then it let go, and then it turned around and dove back in the water," Gatewood recalled. He said hitting the shark felt like hitting a car.

"After I hit it I had no idea where it was. I was like, ‘Oh God, time to go back on shore,’" he said.

"Right when we got on shore, I told (my friend) to tell everyone to get out of the water, and then that’s when everyone was getting evacuated."

Gatewood’s grandmother Eleanor Hee said his surfboard — which he had propped up in the corner of his hospital room — saved him because the shark’s lower jaw punctured the board while the upper teeth went down on his knee and shin.

Gatewood said he could see the bone of his knee.

Hee said the doctor will inspect Gatewood today for any signs of infection because all of the sand couldn’t be removed from the wound. If there isn’t any infection, Gatewood will receive a hard cast to replace the temporary splint he wore Tuesday.

Gatewood said he never thought about sharks before entering the water.

"I didn’t go too far out, like I was maybe 20 meters out catching the insides," he said. "That was the one thing that tripped me up, because I was really close in."

Gatewood also said that in hindsight it probably wasn’t a good day to be out surfing, because the weather was "a little ominous."

"It was a stormy day, you know, because of the tropical storm (Flossie)," he said. "When I was talking to surfers, they were getting a bad vibe, too."

Responders told Hee that Gatewood remained calm and sensible throughout the traumatic experience.

Officials reopened White Plains and Nimitz Beach at 2 p.m. Tuesday after they closed the two sites following the attack. The Hono­lulu Fire Department conducted a helicopter flyover of the area, and no shark sight- ­ings were reported, Tom Clem­ents of the Navy Re­- gion Hawaii Public Affairs said.

Gatewood said he plans to hop back on his board once he recovers but that he’ll probably stay away from the Leeward Coast for a while.

"Just be aware of where you are, because I never really like paid attention to sharks," he advised surfers. "But now I’m going to be like on patrol like every time I’m in the water now.

"Just go with groups and, you know, watch out for murky waters."