Thomas Smiley, 65, was a retired doctor on holiday at his favourite place, the island of Maui, Hawaii. He was enjoying himself but he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time said his friend Gary Taxera. As he was dragged from the water blooded with his left leg severed at the knee his wife screamed:
“That’s my husband! That’s my husband!”
He had been dragged underwater while swimming 60 yards offshore. Rescuers recovered him from the water. He had lost consciousness and his left leg had been severed at the knee. There was skin missing from one of his wrists.
A witness, Allison Keller said that she saw blood on the man’s stomach as the emergency team were working on him. It occurred last Saturday morning. It happened at Kaanapali. This is in a north-west part of the island.
Dr Smiley was an optometrist. He lived in Sacramento, California, USA. His holiday had almost finished and he was due to fly home the next day.
The Times newspaper tells us that there have been five shark attacks in the past 20 years on tourists on the beach while they are wadding, surfing, swimming or snorkelling.
It is believed that there are many more shark attacks than reported globally. The area most prone to shark attacks is America. The shark species most likely to attack are great whites, bull sharks and tiger sharks.
