Boyfriend of woman swept out to sea says first responders should have done more to save her
Loved ones of the woman who died Saturday after slipping off a cliff into waters off Hawaii Island are calling for change to the county’s emergency responses.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Loved ones of the woman who died Saturday after slipping off a cliff into waters off Hawaii Island are calling for change to the county’s emergency responses.
Hawaii County police have identified the victim as 29-year-old Kalaiokealaula Ashley Nicole Reyes Kanekoa, of Keaau.
She was initially identified by her boyfriend Dylan Gapp as “Kalai Reyes.”
Gapp said the two of them were watching the waves together around 2 a.m. Saturday, on a cliff near Hawaiian Paradise Park, when she fell into the water.
Police said they do not believe foul play is involved.
How sad.
They were enjoying watching the waves, maybe under the starlight/moonlight, and then she fell.
Hawaii County police said they responded, along with firefighters, within seven minutes of the 911 call.
According to authorities, the fire truck was not required to carry ocean rescue equipment, and it was 2 a.m. They added that it was too dark and dangerous for them to go into the water, especially with a large north swell running.
To give the emts and fire & rescue services credit due -- they prob. didn't have much recourse with the darkness and what sounds like volatile wave swell .
I don't know this, but is it possible the tide was also coming in ?
Dylan goes on to say :“I had to get a raft to her. They didn’t have a flotation device. I got the raft out to her, and I said, OK, let’s get a rope to her so she doesn’t drift away, and they said, ‘Oh, we don’t have any rope.’ To sit there and watch this girl suffer for 45 minutes to an hour suffer and scream for help and them to say boats were coming eventually,” Gapp recalled.
Just putting this out here ; was it possible Kalai didn't know how to swim ?
Also wondering if the boyfriend was able to get a raft to her, could he have pushed or pulled her to shore ?
Maybe not , as the rocks in the Daily Mail photos look sharp and jagged.
The D.M. is also carrying the story, the article quotes a large portion of the first link, but there are more photos and it looks like she has two children .
Mother drowns after falling to her death in front of boyfriend
A 29-year-old mother of two from Hawaii drowned after slipping and falling from the top of a cliff in front of her horrified boyfriend before being swept out to sea.
