Visitor Pulled from Kaanapali Waters

Maui waters. File photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

A California man was transported to the Maui Memorial Medical Center in critical condition this morning after being pulled from waters fronting the Sheraton Maui Resort in Kaanapali, authorities said.

Officials said the man was swiming in the area known as Black Rock or Puu Kekaa prior to being pulled from waters by bystanders who found him unresponsive.

The man’s wife told authorities that her husband went under and did not resurface. He was underwater for about a minute when a bystander found him and helped him to shore, officials said.

CPR was initiated, and the man regained consciousness just before medics arrived, according to Ryan Joslin, spokesperson for the Maui County Paramedics Association.

According to Joslin, crews from Medic 4 out of Lahaina arrived on scene at 9:39 a.m. and took over patient care. The medic unit was assisted by hotel security staff, the Maui Fire Department’s Lahaina Engine, and police officers, he said.

Joslin described the patient  as a 51-year-old male visitor from California.