Teen victim of shark attack resumes his surfing career

Question: Whatever happened to the 16-year-old Big Island boy who was bitten by a shark?

Answer: Jimmy Ulualoha "Ulu Boy" Napeahi got back into the water Saturday at a Puna surf spot known as Dead Trees, where, less than two months before, he was bitten by a 10-foot tiger shark.

The community held a family day at the Isaac Hale Beach Park at Pohoiki Bay.

"They were kind of blown away," said Keith Nehls, mentor to Napeahi. "For someone that got bit by a shark, not even two months (ago), and now he’s faced his fears."

The Kalapana boy was bitten 13 times, suffered 30 wounds to his legs and received more than 180 stitches in the Aug. 18 attack.

The semipro surfer was released from the hospital Aug. 29, has undergone intense physical therapy, and estimates he’s at 60 percent of where he was before the attack.

When he got back on his board Saturday, former world champion surfer Sunny Garcia, the Rothman family and other members of his sponsor, Da Hui, escorted him into the water, as a kahu chanted, Napeahi’s mother, Claire, said by telephone Wednesday.

"It took me right back to the place where the incident took place," the teen said by phone. "I just let it go. I definitely cried a lot. I took deep breaths and went down in the water and yelled so no one could hear me.

"I came up and caught my first wave," he said, adding he was surprised he surfed as well as he did.

"It all came back to me — the feel for surfing, the love for surfing, it all came back. In that moment, I feel like I was reborn. It’s given me a second opportunity in life.

"I’m just so grateful for my life and look at things in a different perspective," Napeahi said.

Nehls said: "He was ripping, pulling in barrels, doing really well, considering."

Napeahi said he plans to enter the Volcom surf contest in Kona this weekend, and the HIC Sunset Pro Am contest in November.

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This update was written by Leila Fujimori. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To…” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.