โฐ ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐๐๐ โฑ 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 surfโs 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 youโve ever seen... Check out his story below. #wearepangaea โ โ โ โ โ โ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ: @mikecoots โ โ โฐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ โฑ 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. โ โ 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. โ โ โ โ โ 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. โ โ 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. โ โ โ โ โ โ โฐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ก ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ ๐ช๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ โฑ My Hope is for people to realise how important the ocean is before we reach a tipping point. We canโt kick the can down the road any longer, we canโt pass this problem on to future generations. People can use their purchasing power, buy sustainable seafood, donโt choose products packaged with a bunch of plastic waste. We need to come together and change things before itโs too late. โ โ โขโข ๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ โข ๐ฃ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐๐ โข ๐๐จ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐ โข ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐ โขโข ยซ #hawaii #shark #sharkattack #mikecoots #stories ยป (at Hawaii) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-w5GSWhnlU/?igshid=fy9hfy9n9d1f