Visitor Pulled From Water on Lana’i

By Wendy Osher

Emergency crews were dispatched to Hulopoe Beach Park near Manele Bay on Lana’i over the weekend for reports of a man that was pulled from the water and was not breathing.

Medic units from Lanai arrived on scene at 5:51 p.m. on Saturday, September 15, 2012, to find a 27-year-old visitor from Korea on the shore line with labored breathing, said Maui County Paramedic Association spokesperson Ryan Joslin.

According to Joslin, the man was severely short of breath and unable to move his arms and legs.

Bystanders reportedly told officials that the man dove into the water from the shoreline and struck his head on the ocean bottom.

When the patient did not surface, bystanders went into the water and pulled him to the shoreline, said Joslin.

Officials say the man was transported to the Lanai Hospital in critical yet improving condition, and was later Medevaced to the Queens Hospital on Oahu for further care.

The medic unit was assisted by hotel security responders, and personnel from the Maui Fire Department and Maui Police Department.