was the greatest thing that's ever happened to me.

And they're like, "That's absurd.”

“You know, why would you say that?"

I've had incredible opportunities.

I've been able to visit some really cool places

and meet some incredible people.

All these things have been nurtured from this shark attack.

I think it's really made me who I am today.

(driving piano music)

My name is Mike Coots.

I live on the island of Kauai in Hawaii.

I'm a surfer, photographer, and shark attack survivor.

There's some really great surf spots out here.

I was 18 years old, surfing here on Kauai with some friends,

and it was early in the morning and I paddled out

and thought I was gonna have a surf session

like any other day, and it was a lot different.

I got attacked by a tiger shark.

As soon as I hit it,

it let go and disappeared back underwater.

And I remember passing out

basically as soon as we got to the hospital

and I woke up a day-and-a-half later an amputee.

I got my first prosthetic six months after the shark attack.

Early on, you think you can't do this,

you think you can't do that.

You know, there's these physical limitations on life.

And I didn't think I could drive a truck with a stick shift.

And you learn how to drive a truck with a stick shift

and you're like, "Wow, that was cool."

And you build up these little things like day to day to day.

After a while, it's like bring it on.

What can happen that I can't figure out how to do?

I was in college and I remember class got out.

I was like, "You know what?”

"I'm gonna take a longboard;

I'm gonna get the biggest board I can find

and just take my prosthetic in the water

and see what happens."

I caught a wave and I was screaming pretty loud.

I was like, "What?!”

"This is cool; this is amazing!"

And I think that was the best wave

I had ever caught in my life.

From then on, I started figuring out,

okay, what's gonna break?

What can I make that's a foot

that'll help me surf even better?

And trying to basically make the ultimate surfing foot.

I think I'm doing it because it's fun,

but I'm also, it's this learning experience

and it's taking this information and passing it on

to people that wanna surf with a prosthetic.

The ocean has taken a lot from me,

but what it's given back to me has been immeasurable.

I've lost, you know, nearly my life to a shark,

yet I really believe sharks are one of the

if not the most important species in our marine ecosystem.

And at the rate that they're being killed off,

they're not gonna be around in 10, 15, 20 years.

And why not use something that could,

I guess, be said as a negative and turn it into a positive.

The shark attack's been the greatest thing

that's ever happened to me.

(slow pop music)