US Coast Guard and off-duty lifeguard rescued Kahiau Kawa, 17, after he became separated from his school’s paddling team
A teenager in Hawaii was recovering on Friday after spending more than 11 hours clinging to a kayak before being rescued during an overnight ocean search by an off-duty lifeguard and the US Coast Guard.
Kahiau Kawai, 17, had gotten separated from his high school paddling team on Wednesday after capsizing approximately half a mile south of Honolulu’s Sheraton Waikiki Beach Resort. He was on a 20-foot kayak and was not wearing a lifejacket, the coast guard said.
Kawai’s parents in a statement thanked the state, city and federal rescue teams who searched through the night, with a “very special mahalo” to family, friends and the Honolulu lifeguard who went out on his own to search for the teen.
