6/25/12 11:07 PM

A swimmer at Kailua beach was taken to the hospital in critical condition Monday evening.

A witness said a kite surfer found the man floating face down in the ocean and brought him to shore.

Officials say the man is in his 60s was taken to a hospital around 5:30 p.m.

Maybe now the Kailua city counsel will shut the f.... up about banning kitesurfing there!!!!!!!
No kayakers nor pol dancers did sh.... to save that dude. And what the life guards ware doing!?
That story should be super laud on tv and in every paper. Spatially in all the places where kiting is banned.

Easy there Radek. He saved a fellow kiter..

Great job by Sammi.

Now when that is said, there is no count over how many people kiters have actually helped in the water. Both people that lost their kayak, swimmers and snorklers. They will never be reported because the people did not need to be sent to hospital.

The news papers around here did not make any mention of the kiter that helped.

Hawaiis you need to be more specific in your post, innocent people are being criticize.
thx tautologis.

Great job, Sammy. Cabarete Rulez!

NP I think the core of your message is right tho. We are actually doing good out there. I am 100% sure we'd have more drownings unless we were out there. I've dragged so many people to the beach...same with others. They might not have drowned, but the risk might have been higher. I know for sure that sevaral kayakers have saved their bopats because we helped them.

More on the story here (it completely misses Sammy's rescue effort):
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/160335095.html?id=160335095

Well I got some more info. The guy that was pulledout is John. He is relatively new to kiting but I know him as a super nice and friendly guy. He is still in a coma. I really hope he makes it.

Well done that man/woman, really glad the lad got to shore, lets hope he pulls through.

regardless of if this is good press or not a life was saved and no one can ask for more than that.

Many kite surfers live to ride but, in a dramatic twist of fate, it is a kite surfing ride that saves the life of a man found unconscious in the middle of Kailua Bay.
When the wind's up, kite surfers converge on Kailua Beach. Monday afternoon, Sammie Perez Hults was one of those who launched his kite in the blustery conditions. His ride around the bay then took a detour when he noticed a kite floundering on the water, while its rider lay motionless -- hundreds of yards offshore.
"I saw him floating upside down and thought maybe he was taking a rest. One second passed then two, and I realized he was not coming up," said Samuel Perez Hults, a Kailua kite surfer.
That kite surfer was 59-year-old John Loucey, who blacked out in the middle of the bay.
"I thought he was dead. Once I flipped him over though, I saw a lot of foam and water come out of his mouth," said Perez Hults.
Perez Hults alerted other kite surfers to call 911 as he used his sail to haul Loucey's nearly lifeless body back to shore. Witnesses said the rescue only took about 10 minutes, but each second was critical, because Loucey was unconscious and in bad shape by the time he reached the beach.
"He was a little blue, but at that point we determined he did have a pulse and was breathing," said Keith Halemano, a lifeguard with the Ocean Safety Division.
Loucey was taken to Castle hospital's intensive care unit, where he remains.
On Tuesday, kite surfers hitting the beach shared news of the dramatic rescue, and Loucey's amazing recovery. After being close to death, Loucey has recovered enough that he is now alert and talking -- and even had something to say to Perez Hults.
"When I came to see him, he was happy to see me,"Perez Hults said. "He laughed and said 'Thank you Sammie. I appreciate your help.' Then my stomach had butterflies and I was like, 'Yeah! He made it.'"
On Monday, Loucey's life nearly ended in the ocean off Kailua, but already he has plans to be back in the ocean. "I told him to slow down, but he said 'Tuesday I'll be out of here and Friday I'll be out in the water,'" said Perez Hults.
Loucey's family said before he goes kite surfing again, doctors want to find out why he blacked out in the first place.
Meanwhile, lifeguards said this was a great example of people watching out for one another in the water and acting quickly in an emergency. Kitv.com

Kudos to Sammy whom I met during the rescue.

My view of what happen being the second on the scene

500M or so off the launching spot at Kailua I saw the air rush kite on the water not re-launching, two other Kiters were riding further out and near by Sammy being the closest - I was doing 100m tacks and on the second (didn’t get his name - local) yelled at me to get help - man down - drowning.

I ripped into shore - went to to the nearest group of sunbathers ( i knew they would have a phone) told them to Call 911, had the other girl run to Life guard shack to Alert them - told her that a Kiteboarder (Sammy) was dragging in a drowning victim in 300 m off shore - "not Breathing / need water rescue".

I landed my kite gear and ran back into the water to help - swam 100m to intercept Sammy, who had him well in hand in a buddy rescue body drag on his back, and had his head well above water. I followed him and reassured Sammy as he asked me - that his head was indeed above water so he could focus on getting in. John was foaming a regular interval from the mouth, his face looked grey / purple.

1-2 min later we were at the beach, where others helped drag him onto the beach. Lifeguards with Quad and Jet Ski arrived 10 -15 sec after. They inserted a tube to provide an Airway and ventilated, Strong pulse, asked us if any one did CPR. Most of the water was already clear of his lungs. EMT and Fire rescue arrived in a bout 5 min later.

On the point of the Body drag- Sammy was pulling him faster than I could swim - and I used to be able to do 100m in 56 sec. John was wearing a Dakine Impact vest which gave Sammy something to hold on to which helped.


After having a chance to talk to Sammy that day and the following day - he told me that he saw him in the water - thought it strange the kite had not re-launched and was not being flown.... went for a closer look and saw the Victim face down,.. and went into rescue mode. Chucked his board, pulled the John's release to clear the kite, rolled him over and gave him a couple Heimlich style ab/chest compressions to clear water from his lungs - told me a lot of foam came out and looked pretty blue. Then started dragging and yelled for help to the other kiter who got me to get the call in.

As I replay this in my mind - a couple of things strike me;

Had Sammy;
Not been concerned that the kite didn't re-launch after a while (more than normal;
Not had the presence of mind and quick thinking to get to him keep his own kite;
Not released Johns kite;
Not cleared his lungs with a couple of quick compressions
Not get him in quickly to the beach with a body drag tow;
And not communicated the situation to a nearby Kiter...
this could have been a bad ending.

Having that situational awareness to see the possibility of a problem and then the regard for a fellow was paramount to the start of a successful rescue.

As for the story of the rescue in the paper... well just not the whole picture and only describes stabilizing the victim – the true unsung 1st responder was fellow Kite boarder Sammy.

Jason Kendal
Canadian in Hong Kong
3 years in row Kiting now at Kailua