01-19-09 KAHALUU, HI Paddler rescues stranded man (1 injury)
SOURCE: West Hawaii Today (HI)
AUDIENCE: 33,302
DATE: 01-22- 2009 
HEADLINE: Paddler rescues stranded man
Miles offshore Kahal West Hawaii Today 

Thursday, January 22, 2009 8:14AM Subject 1 wasn't expecting to find anything other than a few swells and a blue sky while paddling Monday evening. But he quickly learned he should always expect the unexpected. 

Shortly before sunset, while doing an afternoon workout on his one-man canoe about 1 or 2 miles off of Kahaluu, Subject 1 heard what he described as moaning. The Kealakekua resident could not believe someone would be that far out in the water so he kept paddling. 

"But then I heard it again, and when I looked around I found a guy floating in the water," he said. "It didn't make any sense how he got this far out." Subject 1 helped the man, whose identity and age are unknown, hang on to the canoe and started paddling back to shore. Shortly after, he saw a Big Island Divers boat and he waved his paddle to get the crew's attention. The dive boat captain, saw Subject 1 and sent one of his crew over to help bring the man back to the dive boat. The man appeared extremely tired, but he was able to sit upright during the 15-minute ride back to Kailua Pier, Karlson said. 

"I'm not sure how much longer the man would have been able to hang on," the dive boat captain said. "There's just no room on a one-man canoe for two people." Fire captain on duty that night, confirmed that Big Island Divers had picked up a man in the water and brought him to the pier. The man was conscious and able to answer some questions, but the medic who responded was unable to get the man's name or where he was from, health care worker said. 

The man was treated for possible hypothermia and taken to Kona Community Hospital, said the Hawaii County Fire Department battalion chief. There were not any other obvious injuries other than exposure, he added. The chief said they found an inflatable kayak that had looked like it lost air, but he was unsure how he got that far out and whether he left from Kailua pier. 

"This is definitely a first for me. You hear stories about people getting stuck out there, but it's pretty rare," he said. "I used to lifeguard at Kahaluu and Magic Sands. Having been trained in CPR and first aid, it's nice to be able to do something as a good Samaritan." Subject 1 agreed. While he was prepared to paddle the man back to shore, he knew that would have been a challenge and was relieved when he saw the dive boat. 

"I don't do this on a regular basis; I don't go looking for people in trouble," Subject 1 said. "I was just paddling along, enjoying the afternoon and I found a guy floating in the water. But you do what you can to help someone out."
Kailua-Kona                   