Drowning at Hapuna?

[viviansuet]

lost my snorkel & mask in the waves at hapuna....not a place to play....

[jdkronyk]

I was there on the day of the rescue. I watched a big set roll through and had wondered who was gonna get smashed. There was a lot of tourists in the water.it was just an average day for a local. But the whitewater explosions on that 4 wave set were easily 2-3feet above the heads of those standing in the knee deep water. Wimmediately the lifeguards from our tower rushed over on quad to the scene where a few were already fully engaged in the rescue. They took turns with compressions for what seemed like an eternity. Fire arrived and the effort continued. Paramedics arrived and it seemed like an eternity but could have been no more than 10-15mn before he was on the ambulance.he never regained a pulse, and they rolled him over many times to allow him to discharge the seawater. He was very off color when they loaded him up,and it did not look to us as if he was gonna make it. We could see some of the lifeguards visibly shaken and decompressing.they did a great job and gave an amazing effort. Giving CPR is truly exhausting.T We have wondered why there was no coverage on the news as well. Just wondering weather or not he made it. There were four people kneeling in prayer during the entire event.not sure if they knew him or were just trying to help.

[Guest]

Sixty years old... Heart attacks and strokes do not always happen in rooms, parking lots, etc. Let us not be too quick to blame the sea.

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You can't fix Samsara.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Heart attacks and strokes do not always happen in rooms, parking lots, etc. Let us not be too quick to blame the sea.

I have on occasion worked the late night shift at a hotel or resort. Over the years I've also watched cardboard caskets arrive and leave at air cargo for shipment back to the mainland.

This is what I've learned about visitors who vacation in Hawaii. People arrive after a long flight. They're tired, jet-lagged, but also excited to discover their new surroundings. They eat a little more than usual, and they drink a little more than usual. They exercise more than they have in years, whether by swimming, walking or other activity. Sometimes it is more than their heart can handle. Most of the time a heart attack will occur in their hotel room, in the middle of the night, and they are quietly removed from the premises without sirens or flashing lights. It can also happen in the ocean.

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." -Annie Dillard

[jdkronyk]

Imagtek

I had wondered the same thing. With any heart complications or older age a heart attack or stroke are completely plausible. Maybe the news will let us know eventually.

[Jeffhale]

quote:

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Originally posted by PunaMauka2

Some years ago I had a rather frightening close call at a beach on Oahu notorious for it's dangerous shorebreak.

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Sandys beach. I BS Sandys' sand mid 70's, [grin] it's for thrill seekers. I grew up BS-ing and enjoyed many of Oahou's spots although board surfing my preference. Sandy's is fun, providing ya can take the body slams. Not to leave out, making sure ya dump your self on the sand side-ways. Pretty easy for experienced, and real dope for beginners, as in,, gotta be a dope to dare.

1. Hapuna, Hawaii 11 616,606

3. Sandy Beach, Oahu 7 383,469

I've BS-ed Hapuna, it's no where close to the danger level of Sandys. And to take the comparison between it and Hapuna, and that Sands' is not much of a tourist trap, mostly locals, daredevils, verses mostly tourist, the injury rate at Sandys would be a large multiple using accurate estimates. Not every time but, Sandys either just doesn't break or it's breaking backs, ..

Not to be bragging but, on the topic of slamming into the sand off a wave. when Waimea brings in the big ones, I've even rode my board in its sand slammers. Also did it a few times at Sandys' too. Not a bright idea as I get one small scare from the skag of me board for it, but, it was fun. [grin]

And as sand breakers go, there's a spot near or in-between Pupukea and Gas Chambers, North Shore, Oahu. I've seen it twice, 2 different years, both by happen chance, 10-15 ft pop-up waves. The sand has to move into the right place and it's rare to do. Amazing walls of water form when it nears the beach, it just pops straight into the air and then walks across the sand as a thin wall of water and crashes.

Prob the most safest walls of water crashing straight into flat sand ever because, there's just no way you could catch them, Impossible to ride, delusional to try. Albeit, injury is possible because, if you're daring enough, one could run down the sand into them as they pop. but, you'd have to be incredibly stupid to let one dump on you or slip and fall as they're approaching. Otherwise, I think pals and I have been able to get within 10-15 feet safely. [grin] If you can imagine; That's 10-15 feet distance to waves breaking into the sand 10-15 feet high.

[VancouverIslander]

The worst shore break accident I've had was at Shipwreck beach on Kauai. Totally my own stupidity - I was way too square to the wave and a bit slow on the paddle so it curled itself around my toes and drove me head first into the sand. Fortunately I have wide shoulders and strong neck muscles so I took a glancing blow off my head and my left shoulder took the brunt of it. A piece of coral embedded in the sand took out a nice chunk to remind me to be careful in the future. I don't think I've been to Sandy, I've only been to Oahu once and my cousin took me to Waimanalo (I think). I know that Winter swells at Hapuna can get pretty wild, but I've always found 2-3 foot swells to be very enjoyable there. Whatever the cause, it certainly is sad to see something like this happen.

Just call me Mike