Shark Attack Victims Meet to Discuss Survival, Living With Lost Limbs
— -- Hunter Treschl is adjusting to life without his left arm.
Hunter, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was on vacation near Oak Island, North Carolina, last month when a shark attacked him. The high school junior says he was only in waist-high water for about one minute when he was mauled.
As he adjusts to life without his arm, the 16-year-old got the chance to talk with someone who knows just what's he's going through.
Discovery Channel’s marine conservationist Paul de Gelder, a former Australian Navy diver who lost his right arm and leg to a bull shark, visited Hunter at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, where the teen's mother teaches . The two chatted about their respective life-changing experiences.
“It came up and grabbed me by like the hand and the leg all in one bite …,” de Gelder said, relating the story of how he lost his limbs in 2009.
De Gelder, 38, added that he “tried to punch [the shark] in the head.”
“None of this was going through my head,” Hunter said, laughing. “Like, there was a shark and then there was no shark and I was on the beach. Like, that's all I remember.”
De Gelder asked the teen whether he’d ever go back into the water, and Hunter said yes.
“I think so, at some point. Not that beach,” he said, laughing again, “but, yeah, I would like to get back in the water,” he said.
De Gelder remarked on Hunter’s good humor about the incident. “Seeing you with what you went through not even three weeks after, and just alive and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. People will take a lot of inspiration from that,” de Gelder said.
De Gelder was right-handed before the attack and has had to learn to write with his left arm. T Hunter was left-handed and is now learning to use his right arm.
“The hardest part was getting used to holding a pen,” the teen said.
It hasn’t been easy. “I give up after about five, ten minutes,” Hunter said.
De Gelder can relate to the difficulty of trying to perform formerly simple tasks, such as opening a can or working a zipper.
“Oh, I used to get angry, but, you know, I just wanted to pick up the heaviest thing I could find and throw it through the window sometimes," de Gelder said. "Just, you know, trying to do up a button ... Oh, so much to look forward to, my friend."
The comment prompted laughter from them both.
Hunter is focusing on getting a prosthetic arm with the help of donations from his Go Fund Me page. All funds will go toward the teen’s medical and travel expenses, according to the page’s description.
The teen is also thinking about a career in prosthetic engineering, although he does have another offer to consider.
“Who knows, mate,” de Gelder said. “Couple years’ time, whenever you're ready we might be able to do a ‘Shark Wee’k show together.”
Hunter was noncommittal, replying: “Maybe. I’ll think about it.”
“Baby steps?” de Gelder asked.
“Baby steps,” Hunter l said.
