13-Year-Old Who Received 1,000 Stitches After Shark Bite Can't Wait to Swim Again

Attack
Ellie Hayes

He is steadily recovering, doctors say.

A 13-year-old boy bitten by a shark last month can’t wait to get back in the water. 

Keane Webre-Hayes was bitten by a shark that was at least a 10 feet long on Sep. 29 while diving for lobsters off the coast of Encinitas, a San Diego beach town.

“[I] definitely wanna get back out there," Webre-Hayes told a classroom full of students when he returned to school Wednesday, according to "Good Morning America." He told the class he hopes to get back to surfing "really, really soon."

The teen thought the shark was a "big fish," but then his mind "instantly went to shark," he said. 

Keane suffered major injuries to his upper body, and was airlifted to the hospital after the attack. He underwent five hours of surgery and received more than 1,000 stitches.

The bite tore into Keane’s upper back, torso, shoulder and face. 

The shark attack was reportedly the area first in the area in three decades.

A GoFundMe for the teen has raised more than $40,000.

RELATED STORIES