When Eugene Finney decided to dip in the waters off Huntington Beach, California, during a family vacation in July 2015, he had no idea that a shark encounter would be a life-saving incident.
Today, the Massachusetts man credits a frightening shark attack, leading doctors to discover his cancerous tumor.
On that fateful day, Finney was swimming with his two children and his girlfriend when a shark suddenly hit him from behind.
The impact was severe, leaving him with multiple cuts, bruises, and significant pain. He described the event: “I was hit so hard, it felt like whiplash. It was truly jarring.”
Finney’s daughter noticed her father bleeding in the chaos following the attack. Finney recalled the incident: “She asked why my back was so bloody.” Despite having a deep wound on his back, Finney dismissed seeking immediate medical help.
However, persistent chest and back pains followed that night and continued even after he returned to his home in Brighton, Massachusetts. The severity of the pain eventually drove him to seek medical attention at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center.
On investigation, the cause of his pain was identified as internal bruising from the blunt force trauma of the shark attack. However, this wasn’t the only discovery made by the medical team. They also found a cancerous growth on his right kidney, roughly the size of a walnut.
The tumor was promptly removed two weeks later by Dr. Ingolf Tuerk using minimally invasive robotic surgery. “If it weren’t for the shark attack that drove me to the hospital, I wouldn’t have known about the cancer,” said Finney.
The good news is that Finney now requires no further treatment, such as radiation or chemotherapy. Expressing his relief and gratitude, he said, “I feel lucky. I’ve been given a second chance at life, and I won’t squander it.”
