Mike Morita, 58, was out surfing early Easter Sunday morning on Kewalos Beach, Hawaii before he and his wife attended a service at their church.

He was paddling out on his surfboard when suddenly he felt intense pain and pressure on his right leg, The Blaze reports.

Morita quickly realized it was a shark and started praying. He also felt in that instance that God wanted him to fight.

“God wanted me to fight, so I started beefing,” Morita said.

After being pulled off the surfboard, Morita wrapped his arms around the shark and was trying to dig his hands into the shark’s eyes, but instead, his hands landed at the shark’s gills.

When Morita started pulling at the gills, the shark released him.

The water was filled with blood as other surfers showed up to help.

They were able to create a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. At the hospital, doctors were forced to amputate Morita’s foot.

Despite the loss of his leg, Morita said his faith in God is unchanged.

“I would be mad at God, mad at the world, mad at the shark,” Morita said. “I can honestly say I am at peace. I have no fear of the ocean right now.”

READ: ‘God wanted me to fight’: Hawaiian surfer, who lost foot in shark attack, explains how his faith helped him survive near-fatal encounter