Man Rescues Woman Attacked By Shark in Maui

Dec. 2 -- For 34-year-old Julie Given-Glance, Nov. 17 started out as just another day in paradise.

The San Diego credit union executive was vacationing with her family on the Hawaiian island of Maui, when she set out that morning for what she thought would be a 20-minute swim. Instead, just 100 yards off the shore of Kaanapali Beach, she swam into the path of a shark.

"I was swimming along when my right shoulder got slammed by something big," Given-Glance told Good Morning America. "I felt the bite, was released almost immediately, and turned to see a six- to eight-foot shark right in front of my eyes."

With the help of a boogie boarder who was about 20 yards away and her own determination, Given-Glance managed to get to shore.

Feeling Like Bait

Right after the bite, the pain wasn't that intense, but Given-Glance was shocked and "scared out of my wits," she said. The shark bit into her right shoulder, chewed her forearm, and nearly severed her wrist, before swimming away.

Given-Glance feared her blood would attract a feeding frenzy of other sharks, and that she had basically become "bait."

But instead of panicking, the amateur triathlete grabbed her injured arm with the other arm, rolled onto her back and began using her legs to swim. As she swam to shore, horrified beachgoers heard her screaming, and one woman dialed 911.

"There's a gal … in front of the Maui Kai and the Embassy Suites, she's bleeding profusely," the woman said. "She's been attacked by a shark or something."

"Someone's bringing her in?" the operator asked.

"Yes," the caller said. "We heard all this screaming and she was way out there and she started coming in, and a man came and helped her."

The man was 27-year-old Steve Bona. He was on his first day of vacation with his girlfriend and had been riding the surf on a boogie board, when he saw the body of a gray shark, apparently about 8 to 10 feet long, diving into the water. A wave then blocked his view, and Bona thought he had imagined seeing the shark, until he heard a woman crying, "Help me! Help me." Given-Glance was about 20 yards away from him.