09/10/2012 - Kylie Maguire - Tonga

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A LENNOX Head woman has been attacked by a 3m shark
while working for professional treasure hunters in Tonga.
Kylie Maguire has worked on Ice for four months, a boat
owned by wreck-hunting company Tonga Blue. This year
the company has been working with the Tongan
Government to uncover the area's "hidden maritime past".
The 29-year-old is an experienced diver, surfer,
photographer and conservationist.
Kylie's father, Mike Maguire, yesterday told The Northern
Star he was told on Monday afternoon his daughter had
been attacked by a shark while swimming with another
woman, Kim Hands.
"Kylie told me that she didn't see the shark, but it hit hard on her thighs and buttocks," he said.
"She was fighting it ... she doesn't really remember what happened next but then she was back in
the kayak."
Doctors who treated Kylie in Tonga estimated the length of the shark to be 3m, with teeth about
25mm across and a 40-45cm bite circumference. It was possibly a bull shark.
Mr Maguire and his wife, Denise, were originally told that Kylie would recover well in the Tongan
hospital. But yesterday they were told her wounds were infected and skin grafts might be
required. Emergency arrangements were being made last night to transfer her to a Sydney
hospital.
"There's a large part of the flesh wound that's just not healing and the captain of the boat told us
that if it was his daughter he'd be getting her back to Australia," Mr Maguire said. "So we're trying
to get her on the first flight we can. We've been talking to Kylie and she seems pretty down. I
think she has realised that this big adventure is all coming to an end. She's a tough bugger. I
don't know how many lives this girl has got. Once she had to be airlifted by the Italian navy during
gale-force winds and she's also been caught out on boats during cyclones. Kylie's actually pretty
lucky - not many people survive a shark attack."
Ice's captain Don McIntyre posted on his blog, bluetreasure.me, that Kylie and Kim had set off in
an inflatable kayak from the boat anchored at Treasure Island Resort in Vava'u about 4pm on the
day of the shark attack. Shortly afterwards the captain went ashore for a meeting and turned off
his radio. But after hearing faint cries for help, he turned it back on and heard Kylie calmly saying
she had been bitten by a shark. She was still conscious and talking, but not moving her legs.
"I did not know what to expect, but felt it must be a non-life threatening injury, possibly small,
because of Kylie's responses," he blogged. "But at my first sight of the wound it appeared quite
the reverse. "There was major trauma to the area around her buttocks and inner thighs."
Despite her ordeal, both the ship's captain and Kylie's father stressed that Kylie loves sharks.

SOURCE: Northern Star, Wednesday September 13, 2012,
http://www.northernstar.com.au/
GSAF

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A north coast woman attacked by a shark in Tonga is being flown back to Australia

A Lennox Head woman will be flown back to Australia after being attacked by a shark off Tonga.

CareFlight will tonight fly to Tonga to meet Kylie Maguire and transport her back to Brisbane tomorrow morning. She will then be taken to the Gold Coast Hospital at Southport.

Ms Maguire, 29, was bitten on the thighs and buttocks by what is believed to have been a three-metre bull shark.

Her father Mike Maguire said the attack occurred on Monday and his daughter had been recovering well until one of her wounds became infected.

"Apparently she's been smiling and joking and being her normal, incredibly strong self," he said.

"She was hit by the shark in the right thigh, it was about an 18-inch-wide bite with one-inch teeth they reckon.

"But the problem is the inside of the left thigh has had about a six-inch bite, two-inch-piece of chunk taken and this is becoming infected.

"So we've gone from Monday everything not being too bad to yesterday, no she has to be airlifted out there's infection setting in.

"She said when they changed the dressing it was quite painful, but I also was told the bite marks around her buttocks and thighs on the right hand side are looking really good.

"The main thing is they've missed all the major arteries and nerves which is really important."

Ms Maguire had been working in the area as a 'treasure hunter' with the Tongan government and shipwreck explorers Tonga Blue.

Her work involved diving at recently discovered shipwrecks.

However, at the time of the shark attack, Ms Maguire was swimming behind a kayak off a resort in Vava'u.

Mr Maguire said there were a lot of whales and calves in the area and one theory was that the shark had mistaken the dark, rubber kayak for a whale.

He also said the marine life in Tonga was one of the attractions to his daughter who was a keen conservationist with a particular penchant for sharks.

"Kylie wants to protect every shark and wants to stop finning happening," he said.

"She's very environmentally conscious and has even tried to sign up to the (whale conservation group) Sea Shepherd."

http://www.abc.net.au/