Teen attacked by shark at North Carolina beach speaks out

NORTH CAROLINA (KABC) -- A 16-year-old boy who was attacked by a shark in Oak Island, North Carolina, Sunday finally spoke out about the terrifying ordeal.

Hunter Treschl said he was in waist-deep water playing with his cousin and did not see the shark until it bit down on his arm.

"We were just playing around in the waves, and I felt a hit on my left calf," Treschl said in a videotaped interview released Tuesday night by New Hanover Regional Medical Center, where he is being treated. "I thought it felt like a big fish, and I started moving away. And then the shark bit my arm - off."

After his cousin helped him to the shore, beachgoers reacted quickly and were able to save Treschl's life. He said one of the people who ran to his aid had a belt with him that he used as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, while others "were all helping me kind of stay calm until the ambulance got there."

The Colorado Springs teen faces a long road to recovery after losing his arm. But he remains positive and says he's going to try to live a normal life despite the loss of his dominant hand.

"I have two options: I can try to live my life the way I was and make an effort to do that even though I don't have an arm, or I can just let this be completely debilitating and bring my life down and ruin it," he said.

"Out of those two, there's really only one that I would actually choose and that's to try to fight and live a normal life with the cards I've been dealt."

A 12-year-old girl was also attacked two miles down the same beach by another shark just an hour earlier.

The girl, identified as Kiersten Yow, lost her left arm below the elbow and suffered injuries to her left leg. After her initial treatment, she was transported to N.C. Children's Hospital at the University of North Carolina, where she remains in stable condition.

Kiersten's parents, Brian and Laurie Yow, released the following statement Tuesday:

"She has a long road to recovery that will include surgeries and rehabilitation, but her doctors at UNC expect she will keep her leg, and for that we are grateful.

We want to thank the good Samaritans and emergency responders whose clear heads and quick actions saved Kiersten's life. We also thank her extraordinary doctors and nurses in Wilmington and Chapel Hill.

This has been an extraordinarily traumatic event for our entire family. We need time and space to come to terms with what has happened and to help Kiersten recover."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.