Chance Swanson is grateful for a second chance at life after being bitten by a shark while surfing at Hanalei Bay last week.

Swanson, 33, a Kauai lifeguard, is still trying to process what happened Nov. 5 when a shark chomped on his leg, severing a major artery.

“This is super surreal,” he said at a news conference Friday at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu. “I never thought in my life I’d get bitten by a shark. I was told the chances are pretty slim, so I never imagined.”

Swanson said his strong Christian faith kept him going while he was floating in the ocean, waiting to be rescued. He is grateful to those who spotted him and his fellow lifeguards who responded quickly on rescue watercraft to save his life.

His doctors at The Queen’s Medical Center said the tourniquet applied b

See Full Page