Television reporters face all kinds of hazards on the job.
But one New Zealand journalist discovered a threat she never saw coming.
And a former beauty queen got caught on video in one close call with a seagull that left her bloodied and scarred.
Miss World New Zealand discovers the dangers of outdoor reporting
Jessica Tyson was crowned Miss World New Zealand in 2018 after previously winning Miss Teen World in Australia a decade earlier.
The 32-year-old reporter from Whanganui has been working as a journalist for Māori Television's current affairs show Te Ao with Moana.
She thought she'd seen everything during her years in television.
That changed Tuesday when she was filming a segment about fast fashion in Auckland's Britomart Square.
Tyson was about to shoot a second take when a seagull came out of nowhere and slammed directly into her face.
The bird was moving at high speed aided by strong winds that were already making filming difficult.
"Oh s—!" Tyson exclaimed as she turned away and put her hands on her face.
The impact jolted her head to the side and left her stunned.
Her film crew rushed to check on her condition.
"You alright?" a colleague asked in the video that Tyson later posted on Instagram.
"Yeah, oh my God," Tyson responded before realizing she was injured.
"You're bleeding," a crew member told her.
"Am I?" Tyson asked while touching the side of her face.
The bird's beak or claws left a cut above her left eye that was dangerously close to her eyeball.
Blood trailed down her cheek as the crew assessed the damage.
The injury left a scar above her left eye, below her eyebrow and just missed her eyeball.
Beauty queen turned journalist handles seagull attack like a professional
The former beauty queen showed the same composure under pressure that helped her win pageants.
She rushed to a nearby corporate office in downtown Auckland to clean up the wound.
After patching herself up, Tyson went right back to work and continued filming the segment.
"The commitment to the job is real!" Tyson wrote on Instagram when posting the video.¹
The seagull appeared fine after the collision and rejoined its friends nearby.
Tyson shared the footage on social media with the caption "POV Just trying to do your job when nature has other plans."²
She joked that the bird "needs a new pair of glasses" after the mishap.³
Hundreds of fans commented on her posts expressing concern or responding with humor.
"Omg Jess! You poor thing," wrote one Instagram user.⁴
Tyson revealed this wasn't her only recent accident.
She also cut her finger and hurt her arm after falling off her bike.
"Sooooo weird!" Tyson wrote about the series of injuries.⁵
The reporter performed a karakia, a Māori prayer, to try and prevent more accidents from happening.⁶
"Everything is fine, just got a little scar above my eye!" Tyson told fans.⁷
Show host Moana Maniapoto confirmed in a TikTok video that Tyson has fully recovered from the incident.⁸
But there was one lasting consequence from the seagull attack.
Maniapoto announced that Tyson will be restricted to indoor filming segments going forward.⁹
The decision came after the dangerous close call that could have resulted in far more serious injuries.
Australian Idol winner Stan Walker, who's married to Tyson's sister, summed it up perfectly in the comments: "Oh heeeeelll noooo."¹⁰
Tyson later told fans the impact itself was the wildest part of the whole thing.
But she didn't let a little blood stop her from laughing about it.
"Honestly, that bird needed a flying lesson or something!" she fired back at one commenter.¹¹
Look, reporters get hit with all kinds of crazy stuff in the field.
But most of them don't clean themselves up in a bathroom and head right back out to finish the job with blood still on their face.
Tyson turned a face full of seagull into a viral moment that proved she's tougher than most people twice her size.
¹ Jessica Tyson, Instagram post, December 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Jessica Tyson, Instagram caption, December 2025.
⁴ Instagram user comment on Jessica Tyson's post, December 2025.
⁵ Jessica Tyson, Instagram comment, December 2025.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Moana Maniapoto, TikTok video, December 2025.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Stan Walker, Instagram comment, December 2025.
¹¹ Jessica Tyson, Instagram comment reply, December 2025.
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