Shark attack survivor Hunter Treschl ready to ‘get back to the beach’

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Today WWAY caught up with Oak Island shark attack survivor Hunter Treschl just over a year after he lost his arm to a shark while on vacation. He said last summer’s events will not stop him from heading back to the beach this summer.

Treschl said this past year has been “basically the same as any other year.” He went back to school and said the biggest challenge was learning to write again. He said other than that he didn’t really do anything special.

He did however go to the Bahamas for a Shark Week shoot in February to test out a new invention, which Treschl describes as a shark barrier.

“It’s basically PVC pipe and magnets and the dive I did was basically watching to see if that worked.” Treschl said.

He went on to say that it does work, “incredibly well.”

He said getting back into the water was not some dramatic life changing experience, but it was pretty cool.

“I mean there were nerves at first obviously,” Treschl said. “But after, you know, maybe the first five minutes or so in the water, I kinda calmed down and began to appreciate the sharks for what they were, because they’re actually very beautiful animals when you can see them up close like that.”

Trechl said he is ready to go back to the beach this summer on vacation and encourages others to leave fear behind.

“This is going to sound strange coming from me, but there is really nothing to be concerned about,” said Treschl. “Like a shark bite is not common at all.”