BITE THIS! Jeff Horton dishes out more than shark can chew in Kauai attack

Published: October 23, 2013

October 23, 2013 Views: 8,749







BITE THIS! Local surfer Jeff Horton dishes out more than shark can chew in Kauai attack..





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Related "I rolled to the top of the shark and punched it in the mouth and got one shot in the eye," Jeff Horton said. "I thought I was going to die unless I put up the best fight I ever had." Photo: courtesy Horton



They say the best defense is a good offense.



I was surfing for about three hours... just looking around for a wave... and I see what I thought was a stingray," Horton told Fox News. "It came up on me and I jerked my foot and kicked it a couple of times. It went for the bite and missed my leg."



That's when everything got real. Very real. Lifting his left leg out of the water, Horton tried to avoid the shark by getting atop his board. But the thing still wouldn't back off -- biting hard into his surfboard and knocking him off. Horton then rolled toward the beast, grabbed its fin with one hand and with the other hand... lit that fish up.



"I rolled to the top of the shark and punched it in the mouth and got one shot in the eye," Horton continued. "I thought I was going to die unless I put up the best fight I ever had."



After eight or so blows, that knuckle jab to the eye was all it took for the shark to spit out the board and accept defeat. Horton grabbed what was left and paddled to shore with another surfer, the shark still lurking beneath... probably sulking.



"At that point I was pretty much in a full panic and started swimming for my life," Horton added. "I saw the shadow of its belly following me underneath." But there was no rematch. Everyone made it to shore safely, where the applause and support of a jubilant crowd awaited. Horton himself only had a few scratches from his opponent's prick-ish skin and according to local newspaper The Garden Island a tourist who had witnessed the fight even gave him $50 for a celebratory bottle.



"I'm lucky to be here today," Horton finished, his 7'0" surfboard now adorned with a semicircle imprint of the creature's jaws, which Horton plans to hang on his wall. "I'll surf the rest of my life." According to The Garden Island, Horton was surfing again the next day, albeit at another spot on Kauai's North Shore. The shark, meanwhile, isn't pursuing any charges.

That's a crock. The best defense is a history of training, honed reaction time and maybe even a bit of rage. The best defense is just being a fighter.That's what Kauai, HI, resident Jeff Horton is. Or at least he was. Originally from Washington D.C., the former boxer trades a lot more waves than blows these days. But during a morning session with friends this Sunday at Pila'a near Kilauea, the 25-year-old was forced into a confrontation with a much more unpredictable opponent than he'd ever met in the ring.