***OT***
It's pretty big news here. Talk around town is that the husband murdered his wife. Too many VERY stupid things done and said.
Curbstone
Man recounts shark attack on his bride, harrowing four-day ordeal at sea
By TIMOTHY HURLEY
Staff Writer
WAILUKU -- A honeymoon filled with the joys of playing in Maui's marine paradise came to a tragic ending last week after idyllic ocean conditions turned ugly.
It was an ordeal that left Manouchehr Monazzami-Taghadomi, 39, of Sunnyvale, Calif., with only memories of his wife and the scars of a four-day struggle to survive.
In an interview at his hospital bed Monday, Monazzami said his 29-year-old wife, Naghid Davoodabai, died Thursday night from a shark attack after strong winds and currents swept the couple's rented kayak far from land.
The body was lost to the sea after a wave capsized the kayak, and he was rescued by firefighters in a helicopter Sunday afternoon on the island of Kahoolawe.
Monazzami was resting in stable condition at Maui Memorial Medical Center this morning, recovering from cuts and bruises, dehydration and hypothermia.
''I'm still shivering from it,'' he said Monday.
Maui police are investigating the incident as a missing persons case. On Monday, they recovered the kayak on Kahoolawe and located a car rented by the couple at a beach just on the Lahaina side of the pali, where they had set out Thursday afternoon.
A Makawao man, Jim Powell, told The Maui News Monday that he was on the beach in Olowalu late Thursday afternoon when he spotted through binoculars a man in a kayak in trouble. The kayak seemed to be out of control and was heading toward Kahoolawe. He said he had called the Coast Guard in Honolulu, which told him they would respond.
But the Coast Guard did not respond. A Coast Guard spokesperson in Honolulu said this morning that she would check Thursday's log.
It was a delayed honeymoon for the couple, who were married in December 1997. Davoodabai was a gynecologist from Iran who sold her clinic to marry Monazzami, who is also of Iranian descent and is a computer engineering consultant and a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Davoodabai was taking computer classes in the Bay Area while Monazzami worked as a consultant for United Airlines working on Y2K computer compliance.
Monazzami, a 20-year resident of California, had already visited Maui on four or five occasions and was introducing the island to his wife during a weeklong visit.
''She was overwhelmed. She really loved it,'' he recalled.
She especially loved Maui's ocean environment. Arriving Saturday, March 13, the couple had gone snorkeling three days in a row and had seen others having fun in kayaks, so they decided to rent one.
Monazzami rented a two-man kayak from Extreme Sports Maui on Dairy Road in Kahului on Wednesday and picked up the craft Thursday morning. Store officials declined to comment.
''I asked the guy if there was any training needed, and he said there was nothing to it. Just paddle,'' he said.
Monazzami had used a kayak on a river on the Mainland, but never in the ocean. He asked about the weather and was told it was good, he said. He was advised to launch the craft on the Lahaina side of the pali.
And that's what the couple did, finally getting into the water at about noon Thursday.
The weather, Monazzami remembered, was perfect. ''It was gorgeous, fantastic,'' he said.
They saw two boatloads of tourists snorkeling nearby and decided to paddle that way. They forgot their snorkel gear and went back for it. After an hour or so on the water, they came back to shore to drink some water and refresh themselves.
''I was tired because I was paddling most of the time,'' Monazzami said.
At about 4 p.m., the woman suggested going out on the water again. Monazzami recalled that he was tired and would have rather stayed right where they were. But the weather was still nice and she insisted, so they went out again.
Just minutes later, he said, the wind ''came from nowhere.''
''It was so strong I couldn't even paddle.''
Davoodabai, not realizing the potential danger, said: ''This is fun -- you don't even have to paddle!''
But Monazzami said he realized how serious the situation was, because the waves and currents were moving away from the land. The winds kept pulling the kayak farther and farther out, pushing the craft in circles.
The couple went from being 50 yards offshore to 2,000 yards offshore in seconds, he said.
Monazzami started yelling for help and together they screamed and waved their paddles, hoping someone would notice them. He thought for sure they would be seen or heard, but their screams were lost in the wind.
''My main concern was for the daylight,'' he recalled. ''It was about 5 o'clock and I told Naghid that someone had better rescue us before dark, or else we would have to stay with the kayak.''
But no one came.
Frozen by wind and sea spray, Davoodabai jumped in the water to avoid the wind chill. Monazzami stayed in the kayak, hoping someone would see him.
After a while, however, the boat capsized, dumping Monazzami in the ocean too. This time, the husband stayed in the water.
He held the kayak's front loop handle by his right hand, while his wife held onto the handle with her left hand, and in the growing darkness they stayed as close to each other as possible for the warmth.
''I told her, 'Whatever you do, don't leave me. Stay next to me.' ''
At about 7:30 or 8 p.m., the woman said: ''Are we going to die?''
''I said, 'No. As long as we stay with the kayak, someone will find us in the morning. Stick with me. You'll be all right.'''
Then he heard her scream: ''Shark!''
''I turned around and she was almost under the water. She came back up and said, 'The shark took my arm.'
He asked her,''Are you sure?''
''The arm is gone,'' she replied.
He touched her left arm, and he felt only tissue, veins and broken bones.
Monazzami was able to maneuver the injured woman into the kayak and tried to stop the bleeding. The first thing he did was use a string from his shorts as a tourniquet. But it didn't help.
Next, he clasped her injured arm in his hands and squeezed. But the blood poured though his fingers.
Forty minutes later she was dead.
''I slapped her, and I said, 'Don't leave me alone! Don't leave me alone!' But she was gone.''
Another big wave capsized the boat, and her body was lost to the sea.
It was a moonless night, and Monazzami was exhausted and losing hope. He contemplated giving up and surrendering to death. He laid down flat in the belly of the kayak and let the currents take him where they may.
''I didn't want to look at anything. The waves, they were ugly.''
Seven or eight hours later, the roar of waves crashing on rocks woke him up, he said. It wasn't long before the boat smashed against the rocks with great force, causing cuts and bruises on Monazzami's body. After several tries, he was able to grab a rock and pull himself up on the shore.
Monazzami had heard of Kahoolawe and knew it was a former military bombing range that was uninhabited. He knew it would not be easy to survive, especially in his condition. He was weak, hurt, cold and in shock. He had lost his swimming shorts and had no clothing except for a life vest.
He saw some military helicopters flying on top of the mountains.
''That gave me a little bit of hope. I decided that on the next day I would go to the mountain.''
In the meantime, he looked for shelter. He found a sandy beach close to where he landed, and tried over and over to start a fire but failed. His hands were too injured and bruised to rub sticks together fast enough and some glass on the beach wouldn't magnify the sun's heat into fire.
There was no food but there was a little water. It rained some, and he drank from the holes in the rocks.
''That water tasted better than bottled water,'' he said.
As night approached, he dug a hole in the beach, piled up fishnets and then placed a plastic box on his head.
''The wind was so strong, and the sand was hitting me like bullets. That box was great protection.''
The next day, he decided to strike out for the mountain where he saw the choppers. But when he reached the top, nothing was there.
''I had lost a lot of energy and I didn't get anything out of it. That was not a good thing for me.''
Monazzami decided to return to his shelter, but on the way back he became lost.
''I thought, 'Good, that's perfect. Here I am in the middle of nowhere. I didn't know where I was.' ''
After a while, he heard the sound of the ocean and followed it. But on the way he noticed a satellite dish on top of a concrete bunker.
''I was wondering if I was hallucinating.''
Two hours later he reached the building. It was almost dark, but the engineer was able to recognize a piece of equipment called a ''router,'' a device that sends signals. He turned it off, hoping someone would respond to fix it. He laid down right there and went to sleep for the night.
The next morning, he tried to work the equipment in the building before discovering a phone in a box. All he needed was a phone jack, and he followed a wire around the building until he found it. He plugged the phone in and dialed 911 at 11:45 a.m. Sunday.
Monazzami said he was happy to be rescued, but ''I just wish my wife was standing next to me.''
''I was trying hard to stay alive, but sometimes you wonder why you want to do that.''
Monazzami called 911 again after he noticed the wind was whipping around. He thought it would be too dangerous for a helicopter to land, but he was assured that the pilot and crew could handle it.
The Department of Fire Control chartered a Windward Aviation helicopter to take rescuers to Kahoolawe, where they found Monazzami distraught and badly bruised, cut and sunburned.
''It was dangerous for the crew, and I appreciate their efforts 100 percent. They are heroes to me,'' Monazzami said.
He would now fly home and then go to Iran to face his wife's parents.
''It will be difficult,'' he said. |
