“I lost my leg but I didn’t lose surfing," said Kai McKenzie, who had his right leg amputated above the knee following the attack in Australia in July 2024
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NEED TO KNOW
- Australian surfer Kai McKenzie is back surfing waves 18 months after he lost his leg in a shark attack in July 2024
- McKenzie returned to surfing with a prosthetic limb following an above-knee amputation of his right leg. He had the prosthetic fitted in July 2025
- “I lost my leg but I didn’t lose surfing,” McKenzie captioned the Feb. 10 Instagram video
An Australian surfer who lost his leg following a shark attack is proving he can do anything against all the odds.
On Tuesday, Feb. 10 Kai McKenzie shared a video on Instagram of himself surfing with a prosthetic leg for the first time since the life-changing incident in 2024.
In the clip, McKenzie — who had an above-knee amputation — was seen standing on the beach with his prosthetic limb before impressively surfing the waves on his board. He was then seen emerging from the water with a huge smile on his smile.
“I lost my leg but I didn’t lose surfing 😈 🎥 @tobycregan @joshuatabone #adapt #abovekneeamputee #prothetic #sharkattack,” his caption read alongside the video, which was set to Nirvana’s song “Breed.”
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"Could see this coming a mile away! 👏," one person commented.
"I feel like everyone kinda knows that this is extremely hard… But above the knee amputation is next level challenging so what Kai is doing right here is absolutely next level!!! So stoked for you Kai!!!," U.S. pro surfer and fellow shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton wrote. (Hamilton, 36, lost her left arm at age 13 in October 2003 after getting attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark while surfing in Hawaii.)
PEOPLE previously reported that McKenzie lost his right leg after being bitten by a shark while surfing at North Shore Beach in Port Macquarie — a town south of Byron Bay in New South Wales —on July 23, 2024.
The then-23-year-old was able to fight off the shark and get back to shore before a "retired police officer used his dog’s lead as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding,” per a GoFundMe page at the time.
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The Port Macquarie Hastings ALS Lifeguards also confirmed on social media that lifeguards responded to a "serious shark attack" where "on arrival members of public were rendering assistance by using makeshift tourniquets."
Following the incident, McKenzie said he would make a return to surfing.
In an Instagram post shared days after the attack, he gave his perspective on the incident for the first time. "A few days ago I went through a crazy shark attack ( biggest shark I’ve ever seen ) which was a very crazy scene and scared the living f— out of me," McKenzie wrote, adding that the support he has received has "meant the absolute world to me.'
"We are so very grateful for everything. I can tell you now if you know my personality this means f— all,” he wrote at the time. "I’ll be back in that water In no time ! BIG F–K OFF TO THAT SHARK and BIG THANKS to Steve for saving my life."
In October 2024, McKenzie revealed he had gotten back into the water for the first time.
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“Probably one of the craziest feelings I’ve had! First time back in the water last week I paddled back out where I got bit. I sat out there by myself and took it in for a little bit than a bunch of my favourite people had a surf with me,” he wrote.
Sharing a series of snaps, McKenzie was captured paddling on his board without a prosthetic leg while joined by a group of people.
The surfer appeared to have his prosthetic leg fitted in July 2025, a year after the attack.
"Days come 🤩 finally own my own leg again and the things nuts haha thanks to everyone who has helped me get to this point so excited to blow ya minds soon 😈 @apcprosthetics @ottobock, McKenzie captured the Instagram post.
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