Florida surfer Gnarly Charley survives a shark attack and hits waves days later during Hurricane Helene

He almost had to hang five!

A Florida surfer survived a horrific shark attack when a giant man-eater sank its teeth into his foot – and was back in the water chasing the waves of Hurricane Helene just days later.

Charley Hajek, 62 – who appropriately calls himself “Gnarly Charley” – was surfing in the foamy waters off New Smyrna Beach on September 22 when he came face-to-face with a bull shark.

“I got off my board and landed right on a shark,” he told SWNS. “As soon as I stepped on it, we both freaked out.”

The storm-chasing six-year-old felt something “clamping my ankle and foot” – and knew immediately it was an apex predator.

“My whole foot was in his mouth for maybe a second and then he let me go,” he said.

“It didn’t hit or wobble, it bit and let go. Like a warning: don’t mess with me.”

The aging daredevil was thrilled to be alive and quickly trotted back to shore, where blood began to spurt from his leg.

“As soon as I got to the beach and took the first step, the blood started spurting out. “That’s when I knew it was bad,” he said.

“I wrapped my surfboard leash around my leg as a tourniquet and drove myself to the hospital.”

He received 10 stitches and was back in the water on Sept. 27 – a day after Hurricane Helene’s winds caused massive waves off the coast of the Sunshine State, he said.

“I barely had my stitches out, and I’m chasing a hurricane,” he said. “How crazy is that? That makes a good story.”

Hajek then rode the waves from Oct. 11 to 13 after Hurricane Milton’s storm surge, he said.

“I saw tornadoes forming right behind the house I was staying in in Jensen Beach and coconuts falling from the trees onto the roof,” he said. “It was kind of scary, man.”

He said he has since seen 11 sharks and concluded that surfing on the inside of a jetty was the most dangerous.

“Sharks are pretty harmless. But I stepped on it again and got bitten. But if you go into the shark pit, it’s really bad,” he said.

Ultimately, he said his philosophy is to respect the ocean and Mother Nature.

“Emotionally, I had to put the shark attack behind me. I love chasing storms. Wherever the storm goes, I go,” he said.

“You just have to respect the sea, respect sharks and respect hurricanes. Be prepared, don’t be afraid.”