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By Gary Kubota, Star-Bulletin
At a press conference yesterday, shark-bite victim Jean Goenvec
holds the foam shoe he was wearing while windsurfing off Kanaha
Beach on Maui. He says the holes the shark's teeth left in the
shoe match the ones in his feet.

Shark-attack victim
advocates extended
water-safety hours

---

By Gary Kubota
Star-Bulletin

WAILUKU -- Shark-attack victim Jean Goenvec was scheduled today to leave Maui and return to his home in Marseilles, France.

But before leaving, he expressed a hope that Maui County officials would extend the patrol hours for water safety officers until 6 p.m. in waters off a Kahului beach where he was attacked on Aug. 15.

Water safety officers are now on duty at Kanaha Beach Park from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. seven days a week.

"I'm sure there will other accidents there," said Goenvec, 53.

Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana, responding to Goenvec's comments, said his administration will consider Goenvec's suggestion and also look at adding lifeguards at more beaches in the next budget.

During a news conference at Maui Memorial Medical Center yesterday, Goenvec lifted a shoe he was wearing at the time of the attack to display the holes made by the shark's teeth. A fragment of shark's tooth was removed from his leg during surgery.

"I have the same marks on my foot," he said. "There are plenty of marks."

A tiger shark estimated to be 11 to 12 feet long bit Goenvec below his left knee as he tried to right his windsurf board nearly three-quarters of a mile off the Kanaha shoreline a few minutes before noon.

He used a footmast rope to tie a tourniquet around his left leg to stop the bleeding -- an action that likely saved his life, he said.

Goenvec, a civil engineer, required six hours of surgery for significant damage to his left leg.

Dr. Sergio Lugo, the operating surgeon, said Goenvec will be able to walk but is likely to have a left-leg "foot drop", with difficulty lifting up the foot at the ankle.

Lugo said Goenvec is likely to wear a brace for life or undergo reconstructive surgery.

Goenvec said he knew there were sharks in waters off Kanaha, but he didn't think a shark would attack at noon.

Asked if he plans to return to Maui to windsurf, he said he would visit Maui but he wouldn't windsurf. But he said he wouldn't be afraid of windsurfing in France.

"I feel happy to go back to France," he said.