Almost a decade after losing part of his left leg in a shark attack off Kauai, Hokuanu Aki shows the inner strength that continues to inspire the team of people who tended to him after his ordeal.

Immersing himself in music helped him cope with the trauma, he says. He is working on a solo reggae album to be completed this summer.

"Without music, I don’t know where I would be," said Aki, now 27. "Music helps me a lot."

While most people would avoid the ocean after such an experience, Aki dove right back in a couple of weeks after he was discharged from the hospital. He still surfs and bodyboards almost every day.

And he maintains the same zest and drive in all aspects of his life, wearing a prosthesis to stay mobile.

"It helps me a lot," he said. "I can’t get around without it."

On the cloudy morning of March 25, 2002, Aki, then 17, was bodyboarding at Brennecke Beach in Poipu when he was dragged under the murky waters by what was believed to be a tiger shark. Aki gouged one of its eyes, and the shark released him.

David Roberts of Littleton, Colo., who was on the beach, coaxed Aki to swim to shore and pulled him from the water. Roberts’ wife, Nancy, a psychiatric nurse, grabbed a towel and used it as tourniquet on the stump of his leg.

The Robertses were caring for Aki when two lifeguards arrived, having sprinted 500 yards from the Poipu Beach tower.

"He was really pale. He was losing a lot of blood. He said, ‘I don’t want to die,’" said Nancy Roberts during a phone interview from Littleton. Paramedics transported him to Wilcox Hospital for emergency surgery before he was flown to the Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu.

If the attack had not occurred, Aki said, he would probably have pursued fire-knife dancing. While at Kauai High School, he was a member of the Tahitian dance halau and performed at luaus.

"That’s where my life was at that particular time," he said. "I was really into that."

But now his passion is once again music.

"I just think things happen for a reason. Since the shark attack happened, I’m way more focused on the music," said Aki, who started playing the ukulele at 10 and later learned to play the piano, drums and bass guitar. Hawaiian and reggae music are two of his preferred genres.

In 2009, he graduated from the Institute of Production and Recording in Minneapolis, where he spent three years studying audio production and engineering. He has a recording studio in Hilo and is working on a second studio.

A tremendous amount of support from family and friends as well as people he just met helped him cope with the loss, Aki says. Today, Aki said, he still experiences "ups and downs" at times, but overall maintains a positive attitude.

"I don’t dwell on it," he said. "It doesn’t really bother me at all. I see way past it now."

Nancy Roberts, who maintains a motherly concern for Aki, continues to stay in touch with him, calling him periodically to see how he’s doing.

"I think about him all the time. Every day," she said. "He is so sweet and genuine. He is just a good guy."

She added, "I’m so proud of him. He stepped up to the plate. … He doesn’t play victim at all. I so admire that."

In August 2009, Aki reunited with the Robertses in Los Angeles to film a cable-TV show for the Animal Planet channel called "Eaten Alive." The show aired last year on the ninth anniversary of the attack.

Dr. David Rovinsky, who performed Aki’s surgery at Wilcox before he was transported to Queen’s, recalled how calm Aki was in the emergency room amid the scrambling paramedics and family members. Rovinsky later heard about his recovery and that he was back in the water.

"When I see a patient who had a catastrophic injury, one that is forever life-changing and then carry on with their heads held high … wow, that’s a hero. That’s a strong hero. That’s an inspiration to everybody," he said.

Dr. Byron Izuka, who performed Aki’s surgery at Queen’s, shared Rovinsky’s sentiments.

"It’s not normal to be that composed at that age," he said. "It’s very exceptional."

A photo of Aki with the Queen’s Medical Center staff who took care of him is displayed in Izuka’s office. He kept the photo all these years to give perspective to other patients whose orthopedic condition is vastly less serious than Aki’s.

"Here’s a kid that went through an ordeal that should have floored him, but it didn’t," he said. "He did just fine."