Kevin Kanehe and Family

As most have heard Kevin Kanehe was surfing at the Bay on the afternoon of October 15 when he was attacked by a shark. He sustained serious injuries to his leg and hand. Kevin is currently undergoing his second surgery and remains in the hospital. Doctors are predicting up to a year recovery process.

Kevin and Deanna have 2 children, Kalei 19 who is attending college in Santa Barbra,Ca and Aleia 12 who is In 7th grade . Kevin’s salary will need to be replaced in addition to medical bills, therapies/rehab and possible follow up surgeries. There is a long road ahead and many Hurdles to overcome and I am humbly asking for support from the community to help this wonderful family through the challenging times ahead . The support will provide some needed stability and strength for a full recovery.

below is their story in Deanna’s words;

The afternoon of Sunday OCT 15th Kevin was surfing Hanalei Bay and got attacked by a shark. He was paddling for a wave, sat up on his board to turn around and got hit hard from the left side. People that saw it have guessed 12-15 foot tiger shark. The jaws grabbed ahold of his left leg and Kevin used his hands to try to lift it off, one of his fingers went in its nostrils and then it let go. Later the doctor said if it had clamped down and completed the bite he would have lost his leg

Kevin paddled in with the help of Jeff McBride.

We want to thank everyone that helped out, and the woman on the beach who happened to have a tourniquet and bandages with her!

The bite went to the bone above and below his knee, taking some chips off his femur, knee cap and tibia. He his knee was torn up pretty bad and into his joint too.There is still concern for infection.

Dr. Ravinsky did a great job with the surgery to repair all he could with what was still there but Some muscle tissue was lost.

His right hand ring and pinky fingers were sliced open and tendons cut.

He will have surgery today to repair.

He will remain in the hospital and the recovery will be tough, Doctor says maybe a year before full recovery.

Everyone has said how calm Kevin was throughout it all. His state of mind is good and he remembers every detail and thought he had.

I can’t believe when he was paddling in moments after it happened his thought was - “if I lose my leg I’m going to get a prosthetic like Mike Coots so I can surf again”

We thank everybody who helped that day. Thanks to Kanoa Chung for helping Kevin with his personal things and driving his car home.

The outpouring of love and prayers and positive wishes has been overwhelming and fills our hearts❤️ We are so blessed to live in such a caring community. It’s a horrible thing that happened but we are so grateful he has his leg and his life

Mahalo for any help for his recovery with this fund.

It is humbling and we are forever thankful.

~ Deanna