How a Big Island Family's Tragedy is Saving Lives Today

Hawaii

How A ig Island Famil’s Traged Is aving Lives Toda A couple lost their son in a hiking fall 20 ears ago. The turned their grief into a memorial foundation raising mone for lifeguards and re ghters.  Nathan agle    / Januar 31, 2017

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In late August 1997, Daniel are set o for the 500-foot Kapaloa Falls in the ack of Pololu Valle on the rugged north shore of the ig Island.

The 25-ear-old wanted photos of his “cathedral” to take with him ack to college on the mainland. ut that all changed in an instant when he fell o the trail, plummeting hundreds of feet onto a rock ledge near the falls.

He was ling there motionless when a rescue team from the Hawaii Count Fire Department joined his parents in the search.

Nathan agle/Civil eat

Frank are and Laura Maller-are hold a photo at their home in Kailua-Kona that shows a helicopter crew attempting to rescue their son, Daniel, who died after falling o a trail in Pololu Valle near Kapaloa Falls in 1997.

After 10 hours of tring to reach him through the dense forest and steep cli walls via helicopter, the mission was called o . ut Frank are and Laura Maller-are refused to leave a near lookout without knowing if their son was dead or possil just unconscious.

The rescue crew memers volunteered to continue working and one of the island’s est pilots, David Okita, arrived to lend his expertise. The lacked ropes long enough to rappel, so their onl option was a risk helicopter maneuver similar to one that had killed a search team two ears earlier on Oahu.

Okita was nall ale to maneuver close enough to drop o two re rescue specialists, Clarence Young and James Kunioshi, who were suspended from a cale attached to the helicopter.

“It was so tight that the prop wash was knocking leaves o the trees in the valle,” Frank are said in an interview earlier this month at the famil’s

home just north of Kailua-Kona, where the owned a dental practice.

Courtes: ric Tessmer/Flickr

Daniel are was hiking in the ack of Pololu Valle on the north shore of the ig Island when he fell to his death.

Young and Kunioshi arrived to nd Daniel had died. The radioed the news to his parents efore loading his od onto a rescue litter harness attached to the helicopter.

Okita ퟀ�ew the od out of the valle and the ares went to the hospital to identif their son.

“We knew the were putting their lives on the line for Dan,” Laura said. “How do ou thank someone for that?”

The ares soon learned the count had no program to honor rescue personnel who go aove and eond the call of dut.

In the midst of their grieving, the also wondered wh the Fire Department did not have ropes long enough to rappel into the island’s deep valle, a safer option than using a helicopter in some circumstances.

“Wh on earth did the not have the rappelling ropes?” Laura said. “These canons and valles have een here for thousands of ears.” he and her husand decided to u two sets of rappelling ropes for the count — one for the Hilo side on the east and one for the Kona side on the west — at aout $1,500 apiece.

And so egan the Daniel R. are Memorial Foundation, which will mark its 20th anniversar this fall at the annual dinner that Laura and Frank put on to honor the ear’s most outstanding emergenc responders and raise mone for equipment and training eond what’s included in the Fire Department’s udget.

Courtes: Daniel R. are Memorial Foundation

Daniel are died ept. 2, 1997, after falling o a trail in Pololu Valle near Kapaloa Falls.

To date, the foundation has raised more than $1.5 million to ene t re ghters, rescue personnel and — especiall in recent ears — lifeguards.

“It’s a drop in the ucket to what the reall need, ut it has helped,” Laura said.

The department’s “wish list” has onl grown over time. Its most recent requests totaled $84,000, ut the foundation has een ale to help meet the need each ear.

A huge silent auction is part of the annual dinner at the Fairmont Orchid, which donates the use of its allroom. Artists contriute paintings, hotels provide vacation packages, restaurants o er gift certi cates and man others donate what the can for the event, which several hundred people attend.

“It’s not Frank and I,” Laura said. “We were the start of this ut the communit has emraced this and made it igger and etter than we could have dreamed. It’s aloha at its est.”

“The ares took what happened to them and turned one life lost so that others ma e saved.” — Lle Tamariuchi, re rescue specialist The mone also comes from private usinesses, such as ank of Hawaii and Young ros., and other nonpro ts, such as the Ironman Foundation, not to mention people who survived near-fatal accidents thanks to the heroics of lifeguards and re ghters.

George Rider, a retired corporate lawer, was in Hawaii last ear for his daughter’s wedding when he roke his neck odsur ng at Laaloa each,

also known as Magic ands.

Lifeguards Ran McGuckin and Anton Finle rescued him, stailizing his spine while ringing him in. The eventuall resuscitated him using CPR and were prepared to use an automated external de rillator that the foundation had purchased, Laura said.

After several months of reha at Craig Hospital in Colorado, Rider can now walk, although his cervical verterae remain fused together, making him unale to turn his head, she said.

He donated $5,000 to the foundation, which Laura said will e used for a new PA sstem at Magic ands so lifeguards can warn eachgoers of dangerous conditions. It carries their voices much farther than a megaphone.

Rider’s sister made a video descriing his recover: Ox Strong by wailukuphoto

The ares have een astonished  what the lifeguards and re ghters have needed over the ears — things the had assumed the count alread provided. unscreen, for instance, new oard shorts, weatherproof coats, communication equipment and other relativel inexpensive items. ut also igger ticket items, like refurishing a rescue oat.

“There’s all these things that the’re doing that we don’t know aout until something happens,” Frank said.

When a 15-ear-old o jumped o the rocks at Hapuna each last ear and drowned, his od was discovered four das later in a cave 60 feet underwater.

Rescue divers had to take o their scua tanks and push them through a hole to reach him ecause it was so narrow, Laura said. ut the real issue was how the divers had to communicate with their team on a oat at the surface: The were using the “OATH sstem” of tugs on a rope — one tug for OK, two tugs for advance, three tugs for take up slack and four tugs for help.

After the incident, Ironman donated $23,000 to the foundation, which used the mone to u dive masks that have communication sstems so divers can talk to each other underwater and to those on the oat and on land.

Fire equipment operator David Mahon said the new sstem removes “a lot of the dangers” in operations like that.

The ares’ foundation put together this video aout the diver communication sstem: Equipment (diver communication system) 2016

by Daniel Sayre Foundation

Fire rescue specialist Lle Tamariuchi, who the foundation honored in 2015, said the new equipment and training has helped immensel.

“The ares took what happened to them and turned one life lost so that others ma e saved,” Tamariuchi said. “These gus went 110 percent.

Without them we’d e still ack in the tone Age.” The foundation raised $20,000 last ear to put a ca on the rescue oat to protect electronic equipment from the elements and install a platform so lifeguards could get ack aoard without having to clim up the propellers, Laura said. The foundation had refurished the oat previousl with new motors, and provided a replacement trailer.

The total cost was $38,500, ut since the foundation was ale to raise more than half the mone, it spurred the Count Council to kick in the rest from its contingenc fund, Laura said.

Hawaii Island’s unique geograph adds to the cost of emergenc services.

The island spans 4,000 square miles with thousands of acres of wilderness, peaks that get snow in the winter and remote, alluring coastlines.

Nathan agle/Civil eat

Frank are, left, and his wife, Laura Maller-are, stand with Kona re ghters Tro Gison Jr., Matt Loper and Matt Ho.

“The could have a call to rescue a snowoarder or oogie oarder and then within minutes a diver or hunter,” Laura said.

With a population of just 200,000 people, the count doesn’t have a huge tax ase to generate funding. Unlike in some places on the mainland that have taxes that go speci call to emergenc services, Hawaii leaves it to the discretion of the count councils and the Legislature.

The Hawaii Count Fire Department’s udget this ear is $33.7 million, which is similar to last ear’s. The mergenc Medical ervices’ udget is $13.4 million and the West Hawaii Ocean afet udget is $555,000, said attalion Chief Gerald Kosaki, who oversees special operations and the lifeguards.

“The were doing it with duct tape and dental ퟀ�oss.” — Frank are When the ares formed their foundation two decades ago, ocean safet was part of the parks and recreation department and receiving aout $2,200 for equipment and other needs.

“The were doing it with duct tape and dental ퟀ�oss,” Frank said. “The gus’ swimming suits were disintegrating.”

Things have improved since ocean safet was moved under the Fire Department, ut Kosaki said it remains a challenge to nd the mone to meet their demands.

“Although we do have a departmental udget that is allocated for the purchase of equipment and training, man times our needs far exceed this amount, as with this ear’s request to refurish the rescue oat at the Kailua Fire tation that exceeded $38,500,” he said.

Kosaki, who has een in his current position for the past seven ears, has enjoed working with the ares.

“The are such amazing people with hearts of gold,” he said.

Nathan agle/Civil eat

attalion Chief Gerald Kosaki sas the re ghters and lifeguards’ needs exceed what the count udget provides.

ean Gallagher, a lawer-turned-lifeguard who retired last month, rought some of the issues to the ares’ attention earl on. Rescue sur oards, which lifeguards ma use a dozen times a da at popular eaches like Kahaluu, were losing their laminate and ecoming hazardous to use.

“The get hammered  the sun and the lava the have to travel over sometimes,” he said.

Gallagher met the ares for the rst time aout possil holding a run-swim race to raise mone for new equipment. That plan fell through due to liailit issues, ut he said Laura told him not to worr ecause “the are Foundation was going to e our anta Claus.”

“That’s our communit. That’s Hawaii.” — Laura Mallerare Laura, who was working at her husand’s dental practice at the time, told some of her patients aout the issue facing lifeguards.  the end of the week she said she had raised enough mone for new sur oards, megaphones, inoculars and automated external de rillators.

“That’s our communit,” she said. “That’s Hawaii. I’m sure if we were to do this on the other islands it would e similar.”

The Fire Department was hesitant at rst, she said, as it didn’t want to e “overreaching” or have the pulic know how thin it was stretched. ut it soon came to support the foundation’s e orts, a partnership has evolved.

Courtes: Laura Maller-are

Frank are, left, and his wife Laura Maller-are raised mone through their foundation to u new rescue oards, megaphones and other equipment for Hawaii Count lifeguards.

Laura has had conversations with re chiefs and pulic safet advocates on other islands aout expanding the foundation or setting up something similar. The’re supportive, she said, ut the foundation’s success has resulted from a sustained commitment, and she just hasn’t found that private individual who’d e ale to devote all the time needed to make it work.

Foundations and online fundraisers are often set up after tragic accidents in the islands, which happen frequentl. Hawaii’s visitor-drowning rate is 13 times the national average and 10 times the rate of local residents. ut man of those e orts zzle out after raising a little mone.

Laura, 69, and Frank, 74, have talked aout hiring an executive secretar to run the foundation and possil expand it. As of now, there are no paid emploees — all of the mone raised goes to the Fire Department’s needs.

“We’re arel ale to get it done here,” Frank said. “It’s not what we’re trained in doing. If ou need anthing in dentistr or dental hgiene, we’re our gus. ut this is a full-time jo for Laura and I.”

Nathan agle/Civil eat

Laura Maller-are poses for a photo in a Kona re station after talking stor with re ghters David Mahon, Lle Tamariuchi, Dust Frechette, Helako Hedlund, hawn Watson and rian Cushnie.

The Hawaii Communit Foundation took the ares under its wing to help get their foundation up and running.

“We were totall a charit case,” Laura said. “We were just a couple of parents who lost a kid. We had no clue what to do. We did not know how to set up a foundation.”

Ten ears later, the ares knew enough to ecome independent and estalish their own nonpro t. eond raising mone to u equipment and pa for training in specialized rescue scenarios, the ares also lend their voices.

The most recent push is for lifeguards at Kua a at Kekaha Kai tate Park.

It’s currentl unguarded and falls under state jurisdiction. The each has seen a signi cant increase in visitors since the state improved an access road.

Courtes: Andrew mith/Flickr

The ares plan to ack a renewed push in the Legislature to fund lifeguards at Kua a, an unguarded each that was the site of a drowning earlier this month.

“People don’t know how dangerous it is,” Laura said.

What once was a quiet place almost exclusivel frequented  locals who know the ocean conditions now sees a stream of rental cars carring tourists each da. The a is highlighted in guideooks and online travel sites as a must-see attraction and people line up in the morning to go to what’s declared on the wesite TripAdvisor to e “one of the most eautiful eaches in the world.” rad O’Gara, a 59-ear-old Washington man, apparentl drowned while swimming there Jan. 12.

Fire ghters were 15 minutes awa. standers pulled him out of the water after nding him face down. Medical personnel who were on vacation and happened to e at the each performed CPR until the Fire Department’s rst unit arrived. He was pronounced dead at Kona Hospital.

Nathan agle/Civil eat

A Kahaluu lifeguard station has a new PA sstem courtes of the ares’ foundation.

Thirt minutes earlier, a 64-ear-old visitor from West Virginia was found face down in the water at Hapuna each. This each also falls under state jurisdiction ut the count has a contract with the state to sta it with lifeguards.

Water safet oퟜ�cers rescued him using full spinal precautions and performed CPR, Kosaki said. He had regained his pulse and started reathing on his own  the time an amulance arrived from the outh Kohala Fire tation. He’s alive toda, ut ma have some neurological damage, the chief said. tate Reps. Cind vans and Nicole Lowen and en. Josh Green — all of whom represent constituents on the ig Island — have introduced ills to put a lifeguard tower at Kua a and sta it. The estimated cost is $321,696.

The legislation sas three other people have drowned there since 2008, 10 people have su ered spinal-cord injuries and man others have een rescued  standers.

Nathan agle/Civil eat

Frank are and his wife Laura Maller-are stand outside the West Hawaii Fire Training Center that was recentl dedicated in honor of their son, Daniel are.

Laura said she testi es on the ills, ut the legislation for Kua a has failed to pass in recent ears.

In 2015, a ill to fund salaries and ene ts for lifeguards at Kua a cleared the House ut died in the enate. Lawmakers opened their 2017 session two weeks ago and will e working on ills over the next few months.

“Frank and I started this foundation to help save lives and to make it more feasile to save lives,” Laura said. “It seems irresponsile to me for the state to spend all this mone on the travel industr ut not to save their lives.”

With the 20-ear anniversar of the Daniel R. are Memorial Foundation coming up later this ear, the e ort has come full circle in at least one wa.

Laura said she recentl received $25,000 from the Karakin Foundation that will e used in part to replace the rappelling ropes that the ares had paid for out of their own pocket after their son died.

For re ghter Dust Frechette, the foundation’s work “just keeps getting etter.” He said re ghters and lifeguards understand the inherent risk to their jos ut that the oost from the foundation helps them e more e ective and safer. It also improves morale.

“The past is helping the future,” he said.

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Aout the Author Nathan agle 

 

Nathan agle is a reporter for Civil eat. You can reach him  email at neagle@civileat.org or follow him on Twitter at @nathaneagle.

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