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POIPU, Hawaii (KTVU, KGMB, KDVR) - If streaks of bad luck indeed come in threes, Dylan McWilliams should be good for a while.
In the past four years, the 20-year-old Colorado man has experienced a trio of pretty frightening animal attacks-- the latest one came last Thursday in Hawaii when a shark bit into him while he was surfing off the coast of Kauai.
"I knew it was a shark... the scariest part was just swimming back, 'cause I was, maybe, 50 yards from shore and swimmin' back and there's blood behind me and didn't really. I didn't know where it was," McWilliams told local news station KGMB.
He says that he got a glimpse of what looked like a tiger shark, 6- to 7- feet long and that he just swam for his life.
McWilliams finally reached shore and got help. He ended up with a leg wound that required seven stitches.
This isn't the first time McWilliams found himself in the jaws of a wild animal.
Last July, the avid outdoorsman was sleeping outside during a camping trip near Ward, Colorado when he woke up to find a black bear biting into the back of his head.
He said the animal dragged him 10- to 15- feet and he fought back, poking it in the eyes until it finally released him.
He received nine staples to his head from that attack.
And then about three years ago, while on a hiking trip in Utah, that's when McWilliams had an encounter with a rattlesnake.
He says he had mistaken the snake for cactus but soon learned that he had been bitten by a rattler.
McWilliams says that in that incident, it appeared the bite left behind only a small amount of venom, so luckily he escaped major illness.
The outdoorsman says he's always loved animals, respects their boundaries and that these attacks just happen to be three major cases of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"I think I consider myself lucky in unlucky situations," he told Denver Fox-affiliate KDVR.
Mcwilliams says that while he's bummed out that the shark attack will keep him out of the water, he may be down but he's not out. He plans to get back into the water in a couple of days.