❰ 𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗜𝗞𝗘 ❱ One of the most inspiring stories we have ever featured here on Pangaea, Mike Coots is a surfer, photographer, shark attack survivor, and shark advocate. At the age of 18 he lost his leg in a shark attack and now surf’s with a specially designed prosthetic leg, and although Mike was faced with such a traffic situation, his love for the sea never wavered and still dedicates his life to taking some of the most incredible shark photography that you’ve ever seen... Check out his story below. #wearepangaea ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿: @mikecoots ⠀⠀ ❰ 𝗕𝗘𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 ❱ When Coots was 18, a shark took him by surprise when it bit his leg. In an attempt to save his life, he punched the shark twice in the face before it swam away. ⠀⠀ The attack happened in late October right after I turned 18. The shark looked like a submarine that came from below and started rag-dolling me. I gave it two or three solid punches, got back on my board and realized my finger was cut open, but had no idea my leg had been bitten off. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I looked over my shoulder and saw my leg was missing from my body, caught a wave to the sand, got a tourniquet and hauled my ass to the hospital in the back of a truck. I had surgeries for about a week or so, they amputated my leg and I was bandaged up for a few weeks, the staples came out a month later and I was right back to bodyboarding at the same beach, but a bit further down from the attack. ⠀⠀ Amazingly, Coots was back in the water only a month after the attack. "Being out of the water while the wounds healed was the hardest part of the attack. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ❰ 𝗠𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗢𝗡 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗪𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘 ❱ My Hope is for people to realise how important the ocean is before we reach a tipping point. We can’t kick the can down the road any longer, we can’t pass this problem on to future generations. People can use their purchasing power, buy sustainable seafood, don’t choose products packaged with a bunch of plastic waste. We need to come together and change things before it’s too late. ⠀⠀ •• 𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗔𝗘𝗔 • 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘 • 𝗖𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 • 𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 •• « #hawaii #shark #sharkattack #mikecoots #stories » (at Hawaii) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-w5GSWhnlU/?igshid=fy9hfy9n9d1f