HONOLULU – A teenager in Hawaii was recovering Friday after spending more than 11 hours clinging to a kayak before being rescued during an overnight ocean search by an off-duty lifeguard and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Kahiau Kawai, 17, was separated from his high school rowing team on Wednesday after capsizing about a half-mile (0.80 km) south of the Sheraton Waikiki Beach Resort in Honolulu. The Coast Guard said he was in a 20-foot (6-meter) kayak and was not wearing a life jacket.
Kawai’s parents in a statement thanked the state, city and federal rescue teams who searched throughout the night, paying “exceptional tributes” to family, friends and a Honolulu rescue worker who went out to search for the teenager himself.
“Kahiau, who saw rescue teams searching for him, was strong, resilient and brave for 11.5 hours in the dark and is grateful to be back with family and friends,” Ka’ala and Kelehua Kawai said in a statement.
The school said in a statement that the teenager’s Kamehameha Schools teammates reported him missing during kayaking practice Wednesday afternoon.
At about 4 a.m. Thursday, a Coast Guard aircraft crew located the kayak the teen was clinging to and fired a flare to mark his position near Waikiki.
Off-duty lifeguard Noland Keaulana, a Polynesian adventurer who belonged to a famous Hawaiian boating family, operated the boat throughout the night. The Coast Guard directed him toward the flare.
“I expected the worst, and when I saw his head next to the kayak … his family is lucky and this kid is strong,” Keaulana said at a news conference Thursday. “I think he was in complete shock because he wasn’t emotional at all. And I really cried because he was fine.”
The boy was treated for injuries and hypothermia and taken to the emergency room. According to the coast guard, his condition is serious but stable.
