Shark Attack Victim ‘Saved Himself,’ Nurse Says

A Colorado couple vacationing on Kauai said Wednesday they thought at first the shark that attacked a body boarder and bit off his foot was a dolphin.

Nancy Roberts, the nurse credited with helping save 17-year-old Hoku Aki’s life Monday, said it didn’t take long for the shark to attack the teenager.

“My husband stands up and says, ‘Look at the dolphin, it’s in so close,’ ” Nancy Roberts told the Honolulu Advertiser from her home in Littleton, Colo. “Then he jumped up and said, ‘It’s not a dolphin, it’s a shark.’

“He wasn’t in the water five minutes before this happened,” she said. “My husband . . . saw the shark bite him and then roll him once.”

After Aki freed himself from the shark, David Roberts coaxed him to shore.

“He said, ‘Come on, you can do it, you’re strong, you can make it, you’re going to be OK,’ ” Nancy Roberts said.

“I could see the stream of blood following behind him,” she said. “I was just trying to encourage him that he was going to be OK, and help was on the way, and he did the right thing by following our instructions,” Nancy Roberts said.

Aki, who lost his left foot and ankle in the attack, credited an unnamed nurse with saving his life in television interviews Tuesday from his bed at Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Kauai. He was later transferred to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where he was in fair condition Wednesday.

The Robertses and their son, Spencer, 13, were on the beach when they saw the attack.

David Roberts and a friend, Brian Hanson, helped bring Aki onto the beach to begin medical treatment while Spencer ran for help.

Aki was going into shock and kept saying he had difficulty breathing, Nancy Roberts said. The Kauai Fire Department arrived first and handed her a tourniquet, she said.

“I knew he needed help desperately,” she said.

Nancy Roberts said she didn’t think she was a hero.

“Anyone would have done what I did.

“I’m just so thankful that he’s OK,” she said. “I have children of my own. I cannot even imagine going through something like that. The whole incident seemed so surreal to me. He saved himself. He was very brave and very strong. We’re so proud of him.”