Joshua Holley was paddling off of Oahu’s North Shore on Tuesday when he was attacked by what he thought was a ten-foot tiger shark.
The 28-year-old surfer said he felt something brush against him, and then latch onto his foot.
But rather than panic, Holley’s instinct kicked in, and he punched the shark squarely in the nose, yelling at it: ‘I’m not gonna die today.’
'‘I felt an unreal push on the left side of my body. There was a popping sensation on my foot. I look down to the left and I see this huge dorsal fin,'' Holley said.
His father Harold said his son punched the shark twice and made his way back to the shore with the help of two fellow beach-goers.
Once on shore, his badly bitten foot was bandaged up.
Honolulu lifeguard operations chief Jim Howe said the shark came up to Mr Holley and bit him repeatedly, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
''It came up and got him and let him go, then came up and got him a second time,''Howe said. 'He fought it off with his board and got a good look at it.'
Though he required 42 stitches and will need surgery to repair two torn tendons, Holley says he harbours no ill will toward the shark that attacked him.
‘I’m not really angry at the shark,’ he told ABC News. ‘He was just doing what he does, I’ll definitely be back.’
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