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Woman seriously injured after diving into ocean near Makapuu trail

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A 21-year-old woman was treated by paramedics and taken to the hospital in serious condition Monday after she dove into the ocean at the area known as “Pele’s Chair” near the Makapuu Lighthouse trail.

The woman had been assisted to shore by other hikers before emergency personnel arrived a 5:24 p.m.

Paramedics stabilized the woman and treated her injuries.

She was airlifted by the fire department’s helicopter to a landing zone at Sandy Beach and then taken by ambulance to a hospital.

The Department of Land Natural Resources Monday warned all people who visit Makapuu to stay out of the water at the tide pools because anticipated continued high surf on east-facing shores being generated from tropical storms Celia and Darby.

Periodically, very large waves break and sweep over the rocks, flooding the tides pools, followed by a strong returning surges that pull the water back over the sharp rocks and out to sea.

A visiting California father was killed Saturday after he jumped into the water to try to rescue his six-year-old daughter who was sept into the ocean by a large wave.

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  • “A visiting California father was killed Saturday after he jumped into the water to try to rescue his six-year-old daughter who was sept into the ocean by a large wave.”

    She wasn’t sept into the ocean, but swept. How does this not trigger a spell/grammar check? The article failed to mention that the six-year-old also died.

    Is there no journalistic integrity at the SA?

    • I also think the prevalence of poor spelling and grammar on the ‘Net is regretful. And the SA should get some kind of Razzie-type award for the worst headlines.

      On the other hand, the Internet Age means instant news that pops up as it happens. We don’t have to wait until the printing presses start rolling at 2 am. The trade-off is that instant articles are not proofread carefully. Do you prefer getting the news fast, or perfect spelling you have to wait hours for?

      • Professionalism. It’s called being a professional. NO MISTAKES. Would you like your doctor to make a mistake in his diagnosis? Maybe misspell your prescription is okay with you.

  • Part of the Hawaii Visitors’ Bureau’s budget should be to pay the City for tourist related rescue costs. The marketing of eco-tourism is leading to an increase in demand for our ocean services division and search and rescue teams. These are not state departments, but city functions. Increased crime in tourist oriented locations also adds a burden on our city resources. How is the city compensated for the increased use of city resources while the state irresponsibly markets dangerous activities to vacation-minded tourists, who think they are somehow protected from harm because they are on vacation? What happened to the father and daughter was tragic, but it happens. What is concerning is that more people without awareness of the dangers of these beautiful areas are frequenting these beautiful areas and getting into trouble. Let’s make sure there are adequate resources available to care for our visitors and residents alike. Mahalo to our rescue services who do the job day in day out.

    • agree..more and more tourists want the authenticity of nature in the raw. Waikiki bores them to death. I work in Waikiki and I hear that from tourists all the time. “Where is nature?”

    • Where does it say she was a visitor? Where did the state “market” diving into the sea near the Makapuu Lighthouse trail. Even if she was a visitor, how is one headline-grabbing case like this going to add up to more than a drop in the bucket compared to the millions of dollars tourists spend here every year?

  • Too bad this young woman doesn’t have the habit of reading/watching the news. It’s a good habit, even when you’re on vacation. And maybe hotel concierge, front desk, taxi drivers, whoever, should be more informing IF they have the chance to warn visitors.

    • How is watching the news going to help if people don’t even bother to read warning signs? Or observe ocean conditions? Or exercise any common sense or self-preservation? Maybe visitors should take some responsibility for their own safety.

      • Yes, common sense is an important life skill people need more of. If they have common sense, will pay attention to signs, news, tour guide warnings, etc.

      • True, personal accountability is huge. But, how many of them know, if you get swept off the rocks to swim away from the danger…the rocks? How many of them know if you’re hiking and you are stuck in a rock slide to press up against the cliff face? How many of them are aware that they are in danger and need to act accordingly? It’s a dangerous combination, dangerous areas and mind-addled vacation mindedness.

  • Certain areas like Makapuu, China Wall and Sandy Beach and other areas with high rates of accidents and deaths should be patrolled or have people stationed at these sites to help keep the uninformed out of trouble
    during periods of high surf and dangerous conditions. The cost involved in doing so would be small
    compared to having to mount search and rescue and body recovery operations. There has to be more
    proactive actions taken to prevent unnecessary accidents and tragedies.
    Even at Haunama Bay, where there are lifeguards and the bay is well sheltered, we seem to have drownings
    on a regular basis which I find hard to understand which to me indicates that there is a problem there as
    well but one that one is paying any attention to.

    • Problem with Haunama Bay is that people do snorkeling and its hard to tell whether these people are floating around snorkeling or are unconcious(drowning) and floating on the surface.

  • I don’t know if this woman was a visitor, but I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Every visitor to Hawaii is captive audience on an airplane. HVB should show a safety and instructional video on every flight. I’m sure the tourists would appreciate it too. The video should end with a statement that recused parties will be responsible for the cost of emergency action (that legislators should make law). That might help cut down on accidents.

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