California man feared shark was coming back for more

A California man bitten in the leg by a shark off Maui this week said he feared the gray fish was going to come back for more.

Aaron Finley, 32, said he felt something hit his left leg really hard while he was swimming about 30 feet (nine meters) off Wailea beach.

"It was like a hard bump. Not a buzz saw or anything like that," the sound engineer from West Hollywood told reporters Tuesday from his bed at Maui Memorial Medical Center.

He then saw a gray head turn and swim away and realized it was a shark.

"I was worried he would come back for me," Finley said, adding he focused on getting back to shore for help.

The shark bit Finley's left calf, leaving a wound stretching from the front of his leg halfway to the back. He also sustained a puncture wound above his left knee.

Finley's doctor, Dr. Peter Galpin, said the shark quickly let go after taking a bite.

County and state officials closed Wailea Beach after the attack Monday afternoon. They reopened the area Tuesday after an aerial check showed no signs of sharks, officials said.

Finley's fiance, Megan Tharpe, and her family had been watching him from the beach but they did not realize anything was wrong until he swam closer to shore calling for help.

Family members said two employees from the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, Chris Hoffman and Manny Zaragoza, ran into the water to assist Finley.

Finley said that he would go into the water again and that what happened to him was a "weird fluke."

Family members were working to set up a fund at the Bank of Hawaii to accept donations to help Finley with his medical expenses as he does not have health insurance.