Video: Springs' Hunter Treschl Is Most Mature Shark-Bite Amputee Ever

Update: Yesterday, we told you about sixteen-year-old Colorado Springs resident Hunter Treschl — that's the correct spelling of his last name; early releases inaccurately included an additional "e" — losing his arm in a shark attack along the North Carolina coast; see our previous coverage below.

Now, Treschl is talking, and his level of assuredness and maturity is positively off the charts.

Treschl, a student at Thomas MacLaren School in the Springs, says he was playing in the water on a beach in Oak Island, North Carolina, with his cousin when he felt something brush up against his leg.

He thought the contact had been caused by a big fish — and he found out how big, and what kind, when it sunk its teeth into his left arm.

Another teenager on the scene used a tourniquet to stem the flow of bleeding until the arrival of paramedics, who'd just finished treating another shark-bite victim, twelve-year-old Kiersten Yow. She also lost much of her arm.


From there, he was rushed to an area hospital, where he remembers about 25 people coming to his aid.

When he mentions the number of medical personnel and the fact that he was still conscious in the video, he laughs. Yes, laughs.

His comments about the future also display a thoughtful confidence.

In his words, "I've lost my arm, obviously. So I have, kind of, 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 in a way. And out of those two, there's really only one I'd choose to do, and that's try to fight and live a normal life with the cards I've been dealt."

Incredibly impressive. Here's a video featuring his remarks, followed by our previous coverage.


Original post, 5:47 a.m. June 16: Media outlets across the country have been broadcasting news of two separate shark attacks off Oak Island, North Carolina.


The first victim was a twelve-year-old girl, the second a sixteen-year-old boy. Both lost all or part of an arm.

The girl has now been identified as Kiersten Yow, from Archdale, North Carolina.

And the boy? His name is Hunter Treschl, and he's from Colorado Springs.

According to WNCN-TV, the attack on Yow took place at around 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 14, in Oak Island, just under a half-hour's drive from Wilmington.

The station notes that Treschl was bitten less than ninety minutes later, approximately two miles down the beach from where Yow was injured.

The following video featuring the 911 call about Treschl rightly begins with a warning that some viewers will find the audio disturbing. Among the dialogue is the exclamation, "His arm is gone!" Here's the clip.


In the wake of the attacks, photos by the Associated Press' Steve Bouser began to circulate. They're a prominent part of the following CNN report, with a spot-shadowed image of Treschl popping up at around the 46 second mark.


In the confusion after the attack, North Carolina's Fox8 TV notes that Treschl was originally said to be from Winston-Salem. His mother subsequently informed authorities that he's from Colorado Springs.

Yow's arm was amputated at the elbow, the station reveals, while Treschl's arm was amputated just under the shoulder.

Both were reportedly in shallow water that was only waist-deep when they were attacked.

The beaches weren't closed after the attacks, but patrols have been increased and future closures are certainly a possibility.

Look below to see a WNCN video of a press conference about the attacks, featuring much more information about the medical care that helped save the youths.

In the meantime, we send our best wishes to the friends, family and loved ones of Hunter Treschl.


Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.