Visitor bitten by eel sues resort

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — A Washington state woman who was bitten by a moray eel at the Mauna Lani Resort has sued, alleging the resort is partly to blame for the attack.

Kimberly Kirkland-Ruddy and her husband, James W. Kirkland, filed a lawsuit against Mauna Lani Resort Inc., alleging the resort was negligent in designing and maintaining the saltwater pool where she was bitten.

The couple's lawyer, Ian Mattoch, said that Kirkland-Ruddy was walking along a path on the resort grounds June 21, 2003, when she saw a peppered moray eel in the pond and stopped to point out the creature to her niece and nephew.

A 4-foot eel leaped two to three feet out of the pool and bit her on the right hand, Mattoch said. Kirkland-Ruddy tried to bash the eel on a railing near the footpath to shake it loose, but the creature bit into another part of her hand before letting go, Mattoch said.

"This eel was an unwelcome surprise," Mattoch said. "I've spent my whole life snorkeling around Hawai'i reefs, and I've got to tell you I've never seen an eel leap out of the water."

Kirkland-Ruddy has undergone surgery twice to try to repair damage to her hand, with medical costs totaling more than $20,000, Mattoch said. Her hand still does not function properly, and the injury has interfered with her computer job, he said.

The suit, filed in Hilo Circuit Court last month, alleges that the resort "owned, attracted, fed, maintained and harbored a dangerous animal species — eels" in the pool. It also alleges that the resort failed to take reasonable steps to make the pool safe and failed to warn visitors of the danger.

Mattoch said he had been told that cooks at the resort fed the eels in the man-made pond.

Sandie Patton, vice president and director of resort administration for Mauna Lani Resort Inc., declined to comment because the case is pending in court.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.