Shark attack survivor happy to be alive
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
WAILUKU, Maui — Julie Glance always dreamed of entering the Hawai'i Ironman triathlon. Now, she doubts she'll get in the ocean again — at least here in Hawai'i.
Amanda Cowan • The Maui News via Associated Press
"I'm kind of in shock right now," the 34-year-old amateur triathlete said yesterday — the day after she was attacked by a shark 150 yards from her Ka'anapali hotel.
"I didn't think I was going to make it," Julie Glance said.
Glance, who received severe injuries to her right shoulder, arm and wrist, said she was happy to be alive during a news conference at Maui Memorial Medical Center.
"Right now I'm very, very happy," she said. "I didn't think I was going to make it. I was afraid he was going to come back again and finish me off."
Glance is the mother of two — a 2-year-old and a 5-month-old — and chief executive of Grossmont Schools Federal Credit Union in El Cajon, Calif. She said she went swimming by herself as a workout to help get back in shape following the birth of her youngest child.
The attack occurred at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday just after she swam 150 yards from the Embassy Suites Hotel and had turned parallel to the shore.
The state Shark Task Force recommends the following measures to reduce the risk of being bitten by a shark:
Glance said the water was somewhat cloudy and she didn't see what slammed into her shoulder and then sliced into her arm and bit her on the wrist.
Reduce shark-bite risks
She said she and the shark turned in different directions, but before it swam a way, she caught a glimpse of its head and tail. It was gray, she said, with a white tip on its tail. She estimated the length at 6 feet. She said she didn't recognize the species, but could probably identify it from pictures.
Glance said she was able to swim halfway to shore with the help of her fins. Luckily, she said, a surfer heard her screams and helped her in the rest of the way.
Glance said she was shocked to learn that Hawai'i experiences so many shark attacks; hers is the sixth confirmed case this year. Hawai'i averages about three or four incidents a year.
"If I had any idea someone was attacked here in the last two weeks or month or year, I wouldn't have gone out there,'' she said.
She said she wished warning signs were posted on the shore.
The state posted permanent shark warning signs at Olowalu this summer following an attack there, the third in 11 years.
Randy Honebrink of the state's Shark Task Force said unique circumstances — including the area's reputation — led to the posting at Olowalu. At Ka'anapali, where a swimmer was also attacked in 1999, the incidents have been more diverse in nature, he said.
Amanda Cowan • The Maui News via Associated Press
State Department of Land and Natural Resources Director Gil Coloma-Agaran could not be reached for comment.
Bill Zeitler of Brookfield, Conn., poses next to a shark warning sign in Ka'anapali, Maui, as his wife, Ann, takes his picture. The temporary sign was posted after Sunday's attack and removed yesterday.
Glance, who completed the Canadian Ironman triathlon, said it was doubtful she would go swimming in Hawai'i again. She said she feels safer in San Diego because there are fewer sharks.
Doctors reattached tendons during two hours of surgery on Sunday. Glance said doctors have told her she would regain 90 percent functioning in her shoulder and wrist through physical therapy.
"It was scary, but she's doing well. She's happy to be alive, and she's going to be OK," husband Robert W. Glance II said.
On the beach, meanwhile, authorities removed temporary warning signs yesterday at noon in accordance with the state's shark incident response protocols.
State Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement officers, staff members with the Division of Aquatic Resources and Maui County lifeguards monitored the shoreline from watercraft and from the roof of the Embassy Suites.
