Ex-UH football player helps rescue woman from car crash

A former University of Hawaii football player was one of the good Samaritans who helped rescue a woman whose car went off Kamehameha Highway and into the ocean in Punaluu on Monday night.

Aaron Kia, an offensive lineman for the Rainbow Warriors from 2005 through 2009, said he was having a FaceTime conversation with his brother when he heard a car swipe the bushes across the street from his house.

“We saw this car in the air flipping, (and it) lands in the water,” Kia said. “My wife called 911. I ran outside and I saw the woman.”

Kia and a neighbor approached the car, which was in knee-high water in the ocean.

“But the tide was coming in, and the waves were pushing the car around,” Kia said. The waves were “splashing over the car. … I was able to open the door, get her seat belt off and pull her out of the car.”

The woman reportedly was treated and transported to an area hospital.

Kia, who works as a tattoo and fashion artist, said he once was enrolled in a Junior Lifeguard program.

“I was doing whatever I hoped somebody would do for me if I were ever in a tight spot,” Kia said. “I’m glad we were there.”

The Honolulu Fire Department got the call at 8:45 p.m. and arrived in eight minutes. The woman was Kahuku-­bound when she drove the white Smart car into the water, an HFD spokesman said.