Meet Maria Korcsmaros

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Korcsmaros.

Hi Maria, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Sure, I am a white shark attack survivor, triathlete, mom, and fitness professional. I moved to Corona, CA in 2008 with my family. I resumed my training program once I settled in and found a triathlon group in Orange County called Tri-la~Vie. We trained on the trails, bike paths, and swam in lakes, and ocean beaches. One of our training spots for wave entry was Corona Del Mar state beach… Wave entry was a challenge for me as I grew up in Canada swimming in lakes & rivers. I made Corona Del Mar a weekly training spot to get more practice. On Memorial Day weekend May 29th, 2016 I missed an ocean training session with Tri~la-Vie in the morning and decided to come later in the day with my husband and youngest son. I had swim training to do for an upcoming Half Ironman the following month… We got there about 3 pm and I decided to do my swim first. It was a beautiful sunny day and I jumped in the water to swim out to the first Bouy of the lane line to do a 1 mile swim. I checked my surroundings and noticed I was by myself except for a Lifeguard boat close by. I started down the Bouy line deciding to turn at #3 instead of the end one as it was a little choppy at the farthest point.

As I was approaching #2 on my way back I felt a piercing pain in my whole body and then it was gone. I immediately thought to myself, coach Martha was right, there was a shark in the water. I knew the boat was there and decided I had to get its attention and so I started treading water and waving my arms in the air, kicking like crazy yelling at the top of my lungs, GET ME OUT! GET ME OUT! All of a sudden I felt the pressure under my arms and I was being pulled out onto a boat. As I lay down I immediately called out, my chest, my chest, you have to check my chest I can’t breath. The person said to me, your chest isn’t my main concern right now, I need to put a tourniquet on your arm. My focus shifted to my arm and I could feel warmth gushing out of it, I was told to hold something to it and not let go. I did as I was told and soon felt my arm go numb. I noticed we were driving fast across the water as I was told to turn over for the person to check my body for other injuries. I was asked my name, and age, who I was with on the beach. I told them to find Alex, my husband, and Sam my son and tell them I was ok. I felt myself being lifted and soon sound myself in an ambulance with more people around me asking the same questions. One asked to cut my wetsuit off,? yes! My bathing suit? Yes! I remember asking them to turn my Garmin watch off so I could get my swim time, weird what comes to mind. He said, I’m kinda busy right now, but I’ll get to it. I then remembered flashing lights above my head as I was moved down a long hallway.

As I lay there I felt someone taking off my earrings and rings and I asked if she could just put me to sleep and fix me. I awoke to see my husband’s concerned face above me. I was in the ICU / CCU recovery ward of Orange County Global Hospital. My surgery was about 4 hrs. I had 2 blood transfusions, they reattached my right triceps, I had 3 broken ribs, a fractured pelvis, severed lateral femoral nerve, resulting in numbness in my right thigh, and it had bit through my liver. Chris Lowe, the marine biologist from Cal State Long Beach, and Ralph Collier, Shark files worldwide came to talk about my incident to help identify the Shark. After measuring the bite marks, the distance between teeth, and circumstances, late afternoon with sun going down, murky water, depth of water, swimming in a wetsuit, they determined it was a Great White juvenile about eight years old. Upgrading its prey from small fish and rays to seals it was a case of mistaken identity and it came up from the bottom about 20-30 ft. During my recovery I had many people reaching out to me wanting to hear my story or offer support. The triathlon community was a huge help with their encouragement.

About 6 months after I got a message on Facebook from David McGuire, He introduced himself as a marine biologist and adjunct professor at Berkeley, founder & Director of Shark Stewards and wanted to ask about the circumstances around my incident. As we talked I asked him what he did at Shark Stewards. He said it was a non-profit fighting for sharks and ocean ecosystems. I was curious and asked why? He informed me that sharks are killed in the millions every year for the shark fin trade. And that sharks play a very important role in keeping our oceans healthy. I learned the shark fin trade supplied just the fins of sharks for a delicacy called shark fin soup. It is popular in many Asian cultures as a status symbol at weddings, business meetings, and other important functions. It is a cruel senseless act of killing any shark, babies, pregnant females, any size just for their fins and the rest is usually thrown back in the ocean alive to drown, or used in dog food, makeup, or human consumption (not the best to eat given they are top of the ocean food chain) I was appalled by this practice and wanted to help. I had a recovery triathlon in October 2016, 4 months after my incident in Mission Bay, San Diego. So in December 2016, I started volunteering for Shark Stewards and my son, Sam, and I went to Vegas to help get signatures in a lobby effort against the shark fin trade. As I resumed training in 2017 to get back to the race I missed. I stayed in contact with David to see what else I could do…

As I learned more about sharks and the reason we need them for a healthy ocean ecosystem an idea started taking root. Having been involved in triathlons since 1997 I was an avid racer and now knew many triathlon teams in OC. They had embraced me in my recovery and helped me get back to the sport I loved with encouragement and support. My second race back closer to home was Coveathlon and they were all there cheering me on. I decided to start my own event in 2018 and called it Run4Sharks & Ocean Health Fair 5 k/1 mi Fun Run. My goal was to put on a fun fitness event for families to stay active with a morning of ocean awareness learning about sharks and their importance to healthy ocean ecosystems. All proceeds of the event go to support Shark Stewards youth education programs, citizen science projects, and lobby efforts. It is a community event held in Newport Beach at Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort. We involve local businesses as sponsors who share our love of the oceans and keeping them healthy and vibrant for future generations. Humans can do amazing things when passion, awareness, and knowledge are put into action. Sharks are in every ocean, at every level of the ocean and without them our reefs, our fish, and ultimately humans will be affected. This year is our 6th year at Run4Sharks and we are looking for a Corporate sponsor to help us with our goals, expanding our programs here in OC with beach cleanups, youth education and citizen science projects. Our proposed date is October 7^th, 2023.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When I decided to advocate for sharks and marine ecosystems with the Run4Sharks I found it was hard to get across the message to those who didn’t understand the impact a shark can make. Much like me, they didn’t know about the shark fin trade and other practices that impact the health of the ocean. Many times the media portrays sharks as vicious man-eaters but in fact, we are more of a threat to them. When a shark incident happens it gets lots of attention and so people think it happens all the time. When we share the knowledge that sharks are important to a healthy ocean people begin to understand they are worth helping.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
In my professional career, I help people stay active building their strength in mind & body for their daily activities. I really love it when they come to me and tell me how much stronger they have become by being consistent with their fitness. Teaching fitness classes and personal training individuals also help me to stay on track with my own health. I believe in leading by example.

When I engage in the work I do for Shark Stewards as their SoCal Chair lecturing about our mission and how sharks are important to ocean health I feel pride in sharing my story taking a negative circumstance and turning it into a positive outcome. I have always loved being outside, learning about animals and how they live. Raising awareness for healthy oceans and sharks after my incident became a purpose I could not ignore. I love working with the kids and seeing their enthusiasm and fascination with sharks and learning about the ocean.

What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is that people begin to understand that together we can make a difference. We cannot do it alone. In my recovery it wasn’t just my desire that got me get back to my fitness, it was with the support of the people around me. My family, neighbors, friends, and the tri teams that reached out to me. To make progress in our health and the health of our oceans and ultimately our planet we need to share our knowledge with as many people as possible. And then we need to put into action what we have learned. If we all do our part, positive change can happen. We are always looking for volunteers to help grow our programs helping on site at an event or online. For more information or to host a talk contact us below.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sharkstewards.org David McGuire Founder & Director
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/sharkstewards
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/sharkstewards
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sharkstewards
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@Sharksaver