By Trish Moore, Star-Bulletin
Michael Coots, whose leg was severed midcalf in a
shark attack this week, is joined in prayer by his sister,
Nicole, left; his mother, Karla Bailey, second from left;
and supporters yesterday afternoon

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Shark bite victim
unfazed by ordeal

‘I’m stoked it was only my leg and
that everybody was there for me’

By Trish Moore
Star-Bulletin

LIHUE -- As Mike Coots stumbled in the sand after being bitten by a shark this week, his first words were: "God, I trust you. Help me."

Coots' leg was severed at midcalf. Bystanders at the beach, the medics who treated him, his friends and family are amazed by the calmness and self-possession of the 18-year-old during and after the attack.

Keith Karasic, a bystander who drove Coots to the hospital, said Coots was "calm, lucid and coherent throughout the whole ordeal. If it were me, I'd be a whole lot more upset than he appeared to be."

Those closest to him say, "That's just Mike."

Coots' sister, Nicole, 16, said:

"That's how he handles things. He's always real calm."

"He's just stoked that God lets him live, and he's thankful for his friends," she said.

Coots is humble and reluctant to talk about himself. Instead he talks about his friends, family and what good care he's getting at the hospital.

"I'm stoked it was only my leg and that everybody was there for me," Coots said.

Coots' attacker probably was a tiger shark, perhaps 12-15 feet long.

Coots was about 150 yards from shore, waiting for the next wave set when the shark came from underneath on his right side and grabbed both feet. Coots said the shark pulled him side to side and he put his right hand in the shark's mouth to try and free his right leg.

After Coots fought off the shark by beating on its head, he caught a wave back to shore.

As he was paddling, he looked behind him and could see his foot was gone, "but it didn't really register," he said.

Coots will undergo his second surgery at Wilcox Hospital today to sew up his right leg, severed at midcalf, and his left foot, which has three deep bite wounds.

He's expected to leave the hospital Monday, when he'll spend a couple of days with his parents, and then he wants to get back into his routine. In two weeks he'll go to Oahu so a specialist can treat his right hand, which suffered nerve damage.

Coots lives in Kalaheo with Robert Sato, coach of Team Kauai Classic, a Christian pro-am bodyboarding club. He's in the middle of a project, editing a bodyboarding video, and says he wants to get back to it.

Coots says he's always had a religious faith, but since his involvement with the club and becoming friends with other Christian bodyboarders, that faith has grown.

Nicole describes her brother as "shy, always polite, a perfectionist who always follows through with things." He's always been interested in cameras, electronics and putting things together, Nicole said.

Karla Bailey, Coots' mother, said her son "was always full of kindness. He's kind of unusual that way."

Bailey is the manager of the First Hawaiian Bank in Princeville. Her husband, John, is an emergency medical technician.

Coots grew up in Kilauea. He started bodyboarding as soon as he could swim, and the family spent most weekends and holidays at the beach.

The family moved to New Zealand in 1993 and stayed two years. There Coots won the junior National Bodyboarding Championship.

Even then, "he was so humble it didn't faze him," Bailey said. "Nothing fazes him."

Bailey believes that people who cope well with tragedy can be an inspiration to others who are struggling.

"If Mike has to be that, then that's OK because he has the strength to do it," she said.

Coots, who was planning to turn professional this year, says he wants to get back in the water eventually. "I'll just take it one step at a time."