Mike Spalding, 61, was bitten on the left calf by what is believed to be a cookie-cutter shark while swimming the nearly 30-mile wide Alenuihaha Channel between the Big Island and Maui, Hawaii.
The shark left a 3-inch-diameter, 1-inch-deep wound on the back of his left leg.
Spalding was about 4 1/2 hours and 11 miles into crossing the channel about 8 pm when he was bitten.
He said he first felt a sharp pain on his sternum, which turned out to be a superficial wound. Nevertheless, he immediately began moving to a kayak accompanying him.
About 15 seconds later, "I got hit in the calf," he said. "It was such a disappointment because I knew the swim was over. I was bleeding profusely."
Spalding scrambled into the kayak, the bottom of which began to quickly fill with blood. Bubba McLean, who was paddling the kayak, called a nearby support boat for help. Spalding was taken to the Kihei Small Boat Ramp, where his wife drove him to Maui Memorial Medical Center.
"I'm a glutton for water time," he said. "I was in a zone. ... I was in pig heaven. And then this thing happens."
Spalding is a well-known open-ocean swimmer.
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