13-Year-Old Boy Opens Up About Shark Attack That Led to 1,000 Stitches: I 'Had to Save' Myself

A teen who survived a shark attackat the end of the summer is speaking out for the first time about what went through his head the moment he was attacked in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.

In an interview withGood Morning America‘sMichael Strahanon Thursday, 13-year-old Keane Webre-Hayes revealed that he’s “feeling great” after the injury, which required him to be airlifted to a hospital and undergo five hours of surgery and require roughly 1,000 stitches.

The teen went on to describe the terrifying moment, which occurred during a lobster-diving expedition with his friend Noah on Sept 29.

“I feel something tackle me and it took my mask off,” he explained. “At first I thought it was Noah trying to mess with me, trying to scare me. Then I come up, my mask is off, I’m all confused, and then I look over.”

Strahan praised the boy, saying that he essentially saved himself. Webre-Hayes responded humbly, “Yeah.”

His mother, Ellie Hayes, also shared her recollection of the traumatic day and the impact it’s had on their family.

Ellie Hayes/Rady Children’s Hospital via AP

“I was on a cliff above the beach, I was on the phone with my husband, the sun was coming up and it was kind of an eery feeling out there … In the background I started hearing probably just the worst screams I’ve ever heard in my life,” she said.

“And I told my husband … ‘Can you hold on a second? There’s someone screaming,’ and I stopped to listen. I couldn’t tell if it was Keane or someone else,” Hayes added.

Within minutes, though, Hayes started to hear the “bellowing yells” of “Shark! Get out of the water!” which prompted her to bolt to the beach to find her son.

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In the weeks since, Webre-Hayes, who is now back in school part time, has endured, according to his mother, “constant bandage-changing, getting through all the doctors, trauma therapy, orthopedic surgeons, infectious disease … It’s really rocked our life as we know it. We’re really getting a new normal.”

According to the Associated Press, the shark bit deep into the boy’s body, reaching his chest wall and tearing his left upper back, torso, shoulder, face and ear.

Still, there’s one silver lining. Webre-Hayes was able to meet one of his heroes, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and attend game 4 of the World Series. (Unfortunately, the Dodgers lost to the Boston Red Soxin game 5.)

Hayes described that day as “one of the most tragic things that our family has gone through” and that they’ve received an outpouring of support from family, friends and strangers through their GoFundMe.

But Webre-Hayes isn’t going to let it change his passions — he said he’s “definitely” going lobster diving again.

source: people.com