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Man who jumped at Spitting Caves was Navy corpsman

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COURTESY U.S. NAVY
Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Gregory Spillman

The 19-year-old man who died after jumping off a ledge at Spitting Caves near Maunalua Bay was a hospital corpsman stationed at Naval Health Clinic Hawaii.

The Navy said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Gregory Spillman, of Alexandria, Pa. enlisted in the Navy in 2012. He attended Hospital Corpsman “A” School at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, in January 2013 and the Field Medical Training Battalion at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

He was assigned to the clinic at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam in March 2013.

His wife, an active duty sailor, is stationed at Great Lakes, Ill.

Spillman was swept out to sea Saturday after jumping into the water at Spitting Caves.

Lifeguards administered CPR as they brought him to Koko Marina on a personal watercraft. But Spillman died at the hospital.

The Medical Examiner’s Office deferred his cause of death, pending further tests.

Spillman’s awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Spitting Caves is a cove near Portlock with an 80-foot cliff jump into rough waters. Lifeguards respond to the area regularly when people who make the jump are swept out to sea.

Two other people with Spillman did not jump into the water, an Ocean Safety spokeswoman said.

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