POIPU — The surfer wasn’t even planning to go to Poipu Beach, a spot he rarely visited. He just wanted to kick back in the sunshine with his wife and 3-year-old son Jaxson. But the surfer’s wife, who moved with
POIPU — The surfer wasn’t even planning to go to Poipu Beach, a spot he rarely visited. He just wanted to kick back in the sunshine with his wife and 3-year-old son Jaxson.
But the surfer’s wife, who moved with him to Kauai from Washington state four years ago said to him: “Go surf! You brought your board. We don’t get a lot of free time. You’re crazy. Go.”
And so Justyn Dybul, a resident of Kapaa, took to the Pacific on that clear sunny Monday, March 24, to catch a wave.
“I was paddling out on my board and I spotted a woman and man holding onto each other, said Dybul. “Something looked funny about them. It seemed like they were struggling.”
Dybul kept paddling on his board but kept an eye on the two swimmers.
On second glance, he observed a look of panic on the woman’s face. Now, it seemed as though the man was trying to hold the woman up.
“I notice a lot more than a lot of people do,” said Dybul, “My wife always said I should have been a detective.”
The 32-year-old surfer said the two were definitely in over their heads. He jumped into action. The next thing he knew, he was paddling behind his surfboard with the two swimmers holding onto the board.
The man, Dybul thought, looked like he could have been the woman’s son.
“They both had fins on and I thought they were going to help me kick, but they couldn’t. They were done,” said Dybul.
The journey back to shore seemed far compared to when he had paddled out, according to Dybul, as he kicked from the back of the board to push the two exhausted swimmers to safety.
“It probably wasn’t the right way to do it. But it got the job done,” said Dybul.
He doesn’t see his act of bravery as anything but average.
The two people were mostly embarrassed from the ordeal. They didn’t seem to speak much English, but they thanked their rescuer and went about their day.
“Anyone who would have seen them would have done the same thing. I just gave them that extra push and helped them get back. I’m not a hero,” said Dybul. “Everything just fell in line. Maybe that’s why I’m here because it wasn’t their day to go.”
What did the “hero” do after the rescue? Caught a couple waves, returned to where Jaxson and his wife were building sandcastles using plastic pails and chowed down on a couple of good old-fashioned peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as he soaked up the sun.
“I’ve always known he was the kind of person who has what it takes to step up if needed,” his wife, Rachel, said.
As for Jaxson: “Daddy is a superhero!” he said.
