The 36-year-old Toledo, Ohio, lawyer was initially told it had been 16 years since the last attack, but state Shark Task Force spokesman Randy Honebrink said the last attack was in 1958 when 15-year-old Billy Weaver was killed by a tiger shark off Lanikai.
Shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday, Miller swam out about 150 yards off Bellows Beach hoping to see turtles and saw a school of fish, which swam away. When the shark bit him in the left knee, Miller said he didn't even know it until after he punched the shark's snout twice and tried to swim away but couldn't kick.
Two turtles bitten by a shark were found in the area Thursday afternoon soon after the attack on Miller. No tiger shark was found and officials called off the search.
Miller's description, witness accounts and the bite marks on Miller and the two turtles are consistent with a tiger shark attack, Honebrink said.
Miller is expected to be hospitalized at the Queen's Medical Center until Monday. At a news conference yesterday, he was in a wheelchair, with a blanket covering his legs.
Dr. Patrick Murray of the Queen's Medical Center said the shark damaged several nerves and the knee, leaving a 12-inch gash. Murray said Miller might need a nerve graft and that it will be two to three months until he can walk again.