"Shark Attack Survivors News Archive"

11/17/2002 Julie Glance (Hawaii)

Shark Attack Survivors News Archive for Shark Attacks in 2002.
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Shark attack victim returns to work

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Shark attack victim returns to work

RANCHO BERNARDO ---- Julie Glance is determined not to let a life-threatening encounter with a shark ruin her life.

Ten days ago, the 34-year-old Rancho Bernardo woman was swimming off the waters of western Maui, Hawaii, when she was attacked by a shark believed to be 8 to 10 feet long. Glance survived the attack, but suffered severe wounds on her right arm.

On Tuesday, Glance, chief executive officer at the Grossmont Schools Federal Credit Union, decided to return to work even though doctors say it would take at least 12 to 18 months of physical therapy before she regains full use of her right arm. Glance, who attended a budget meeting at her office, said she plans to work part time for the next several weeks.

In the meantime, she will need to balance a demanding career with excruciating pain from a tender shoulder and wounded hand. Several dozen stitches were sewn into her shoulders and underarm, while her forearm and hand are wrapped in a large padded cast.

"I'm the CEO and I want to make sure everybody knows that I'm OK," said Glance, who heads a staff of 12 and a credit union that handles 5,000 customers. "I think it is important as a leader that you are on site and able to direct your staff."

Her co-workers said they are impressed by her quick return.

"I'm am very amazed that she is able to come back to work," said Eileen Sparks, the credit union's vice president of operations. "She is a very strong woman and I'm sure she'll be able to do fine."

Her determination to work also helped save her life during the attack, she said.

It all began on a quiet Sunday morning in Kaanapali, a Maui beach resort town where Glance was vacationing with her husband, two small children and parents, she said. The family had been to Maui several times before. This time, they decided to stay at the Embassy Vacation Resorts, which is near an area known as Old Airport Beach.

It was shortly before 10:45 a.m. when Glance, a lifelong triathlete, decided to go for a swim alone. Clad in a bathing suit and swimming cap, she headed into the warm, gentle surf. Although it was sunny, there was hardly anyone in the crystal blue waters except for a few bodyboarders, she said.

Glance was about 100 yards from shore when she kicked her swim fins and turned right, parallel to the beach.

"I had no idea the shark was coming," she said. "And then suddenly this tremendous collision. His mouth was wide open to my shoulder. He bit down and then turned and left. I could see the back of his head and tail when he left."

The attack, lasting only seconds, left puncture wounds across Glance's arm, causing her to bleed profusely.

"I was terrified I was going to attract more sharks," she said. "I don't recall the pain as much as the shock and fear. I was screaming help, help, help, very loudly."

Clutching her wounded arm, Glance decided to float on her back until someone heard her.

"My determination was that I have two small children," she said. "I could not leave my children behind. I just kept thinking of my kids."

Steve Bona, a Minnesota tourist, eventually heard her cries as he was bodyboarding 20 yards away, she said. Bona placed the injured woman on his board and paddled her to shore.

A doctor and a nurse in the area covered her wounds until paramedics arrived. Glance was in a Maui hospital for 3 1/2 days before being discharged Nov. 20.

Her husband, Robert Glance, 33, said the attack could have been a lot worse. "I think she kept a cool head and did what she had to do in a bad situation," he said.

Two other shark attacks have occurred on Maui this year. The attack on Glance was the 52nd shark attack worldwide this year ---- including six in Hawaii ---- according to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville. Authorities believe a tiger shark attacked Glance, although no one is certain.

Glance said she was upset warning signs were not posted along the beach, but also said she is fortunate to have survived the incident.

"I'm feeling lucky to be alive," said Glance, who returned to San Diego on Saturday.
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San Diego Woman Talks About Shark Attack

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San Diego Woman Talks About Shark Attack
Swimmer Bitten On Hawaiian Vacation

SAN DIEGO -- A Sabre Springs woman is recovering after being attacked by a shark while swimming off a beach on Maui.



Julie Glance (pictured, left), 34, was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center in critical condition following the attack Sunday morning off of Kaanapali in West Maui. Hospital officials said Glance was later upgraded to stable condition.

Glance was bitten on the right arm and shoulder while swimming about 100 yards offshore in an area known as Old Airport Beach. She said she had been in the water about 10 minutes on Sunday morning when something struck her shoulder.

"It felt like he collided with me," she said in an interview from her room at Maui Memorial Medical Center, where she was listed in satisfactory condition Monday.

Glance told NBC 7/39's Artie Ojeda: "I didn't see (the shark) coming. He just came up and kind of plowed in to me and got a nice bite in my shoulder and my lower arm. I had to roll on my back and kick back in and I saw the back of his head and his tail come out of the water, so I had a pretty good look at him. I did think the shark was going to come back. I didn't think I was gonna make it but I did."

Another vacationer, Steve Bona of Minnesota, said he saw the shark and then heard Glance calling for help.

"She was just screaming, 'Help, help, help,"' Bona told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

He said the shark was gray and 8 to 10 feet long.

"I pulled my arm against my stomach very tight because it was very badly gashed," Glance said. "And I swam on my back in part of the way."

Bona eventually helped Glance onto his board and ashore, blood dribbling into the water along the way.

A doctor and nurse who were in the area treated Glance until paramedics arrived and took her to the hospital.

"The doctors say it's pretty miraculous that I wasn't more damaged," she said.

It was the second shark attack on Maui in less than a month. The incident closed a mile long stretch of beach until noon on Monday. Shark warning signs remained posted a mile in either direction of the attack to alert water enthusiasts of possible danger.

After another Maui shark attack earlier this year, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources installed a number of permanent shark warning signs on Olowalu, a popular beach.

Glance said she wished those signs were put up near Kaanapali.

"If I would have known there was an attack two weeks ago I think I would have not gone out there," she said.

Glance, a mother of two, is CEO of the Grossmont Schools Federal Credit Union in El Cajon. She was taking some time off for a long-planned family vacation to Hawaii.
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Officials Reopen Maui Beach After Shark Attack

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Officials Reopen Maui Beach After Shark Attack
Authorities Unable To Find Sharks In Area

KAANAPALI, Maui -- Swimmers were allowed to go back into the water off Kaanapali on Maui Monday; a day after a shark bit a woman there.

Julie Glance, 34, is recovering at Maui Memorial Medical Center. (See what she had to say a day after the attack by clicking here.)

Tourists stayed safely on shore Monday in Kaanapali just a day after a shark attacked a Glance (pictured, right) from San Diego, Calif.

She suffered bite wounds on her right shoulder, cuts on her chest and her right hand was nearly severed in the attack, officials said.

A witness described what he saw.

"(They) brought her back in on a boogie board, and then she got taken away pretty quickly, bandaged up and taken away," New York visitor Massimo said.

The state posted warning signs along the beach that a shark had been sighted.

County lifeguards and state Department of Land and Natural Resources personnel patrolled the water Monday morning in watercraft looking for more sharks, but they didn't find any.

"We had an opportunity to get up on top of the Embassy Suites Hotel there and we get a pretty good vantage point of what was all down there in the water," said Randy Honebrink of the state Shark Task Force. "You could see down. You could see sharks if they're present. They didn't see anything. They decided it was okay to stop the warning and let people go back into the water again."

The attack happened Sunday morning, about 100 yards off shore, in about six feet of water.

State officials have talked to a witness and the victim to figure out what kind of shark is responsible for the attack.

"He also had no way of knowing what kind of a shark it was. I don't think he got a real good look at it. So, we're still intending to talk to him. We'll still talk to the victim and try to get more information about what actually happened," Honebrink said.

There have been three shark attacks this year on Maui.

"It's kind of strange because Maui isn't necessarily a hotbed for this sort of thing. These things happen." Honebrink said.

He said the law of averages applies to shark attacks and Maui just appears to be having more shark attacks than usual.

Tourists who saw the attack said they won't forget it.

"I (saw) the girl get taken in, and I (saw) everybody gather around, and (saw) the blood and it was pretty wild, pretty crazy. Never thought I'd see something like that in a Hawaii vacation," Massimo said.
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11/17/2002 Julie Glance (Hawaii)

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11/17/2002 Julie Glance 34 Shoulder forarm & wrist Ka'anapali Hawaii USA Swimming 10:45:00 AM 8' to 10' grey colored shark
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