A 61-year-old surfer in Hawaii is glad to be again within the water simply weeks after dropping a part of his proper leg in a shark assault.
In keeping with a earlier press launch from County of Maui Police and Hearth officers, Kenji Nonaka was bitten on the leg by a shark whereas browsing on the “Sand Piles” on Waiehu Seaside Park on Friday, Nov. 1.
The assault left his proper leg “utterly severed just under the knee,” taking him away from his routine morning browsing periods that he had launched into for over 30 years, based on a GoFundme launched to lift funds for his restoration.
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is right here! How rapidly are you able to resolve it? Play now!
An replace shared on the marketing campaign on Nov. 7 mentioned that he had been launched from the hospital and was “tremendous motivated to start the rehab and restoration course of to get again into the ocean he loves.”
Two weeks later, Nonaska was reported as having had all his staples eliminated, doing “one-legged workout routines,” and “making nice progress in his restoration.”
Since being created, the GoFundMe has raised over $107,000 — surpassing its preliminary purpose of $100,000.
In an interview with KITV printed on Monday, Jan. 6, Nonaka mentioned he’s “so comfortable” to say that he has been browsing 10 occasions throughout his ongoing restoration course of.
“Water just isn’t scared, simply make me comfortable,” Nonaka mentioned. “However generally I little bit frightened of the shark as a result of generally a giant fish jumps… however I nonetheless respect them.”
He returned to the water on Dec. 21, he instructed KITV, including that he now surfs mendacity down and generally on his knees.
By no means miss a narrative — join PEOPLE’s free each day e-newsletter to remain up-to-date on the perfect of what PEOPLE has to supply, from superstar information to driving human curiosity tales.
As for when he’s going to be getting a prosthetic leg — one thing that was talked about within the final replace on the GoFundMe — Nonaska instructed KITV that he and his spouse are headed to O’ahu to search for a one this week.
“So many individuals supported me and helped me,” Nonaska instructed KITV. “I so comfortable, I simply admire them.”