LIHUE — Through tears, Raymondo Sabay said it was difficult to look at his daughter as she lay in a hospital bed at Queen’s Medical Center in critical condition Friday.
“The injuries to the head and face are terrible,” Sabay said. “She has fluid on the brain and needs assistance to breathe.”
Every morning Sabay said his daughter Arayza would tell him when she was leaving their Hanamaulu home for Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School.
Thursday was no different.
“I’m going now dad,” were the last words he heard the 12-year-old say.
A few minutes after leaving home, Arayza was the victim of an alleged hit-and-run accident.
At this point, her dad said they’re not sure of the extent of her injuries, but doctors have ordered a CAT scan for further diagnosis.
His daughter is responding when he and her mom, Ma June Sabay, hold her hand, he said, but she cannot talk because of the breathing tubes.
The accident, Sabay said, happened close to their house.
He said there’s a walking path she takes to the bus stop everyday, and he’s not sure how she could have been hit there, but what’s even more disconcerting is the fact that someone just drove away.
“In the first place, I understand this was an accident. I don’t know who the driver was, but I don’t understand why he left her,” Sabay said. “In an accident like this, time is important. He could have called 9-1-1.”
Police were called to Laukona Street just south of the Hoohana Street junction in Hanamaulu, about 7 a.m., after receiving reports of an injured child.
According to a preliminary investigation, police believe the child was walking along Laukona Street when she was hit by a vehicle.
The involved vehicle was not at the scene of the accident when police arrived.
Police are searching for the driver and asking for the public’s help.
His daughter, Sabay said, is a normal 12-year-old. He said she’s a good girl who never talks back to her elders. He and his wife taught her that, he said.
Her favorite subject in school is English, but she doesn’t much like math.
“Whenever she has math homework she asks me to help her with it, because she’s really not good in math,” he said.
“I always tell her to study hard, because it’s tough to be a doctor,” Sabay said.
She takes classes on Monday nights at the Catholic church, has piano lessons on Saturdays, and on Fridays, Sabay said he drops his daughter off at the mall so she can be with friends.
He and his wife are on Oahu by their daughter’s side.
“Every time we hold our daughter’s hands, we feel like crying,” he said.
Sabay said you cannot imagine what it was like to see his daughter when they arrived at the emergency room in Lihue after the accident.
“I love my daughter,” Sabay said.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the family at this tragic time. I hope they receive good news for their daughter soon. I noticed that both her loving parents are in Honolulu with her and I am sure she is grateful for the comfort. I would like to see a story in the paper if they start a funding page; the last thing the family needs right now would be an additional financial burden. Mahalo.
I am friends with Arayza, and my other friends were like family to her. Her friend (family) felt like she was falling apart. I wanted to be there for her, and I did my best to comfort her. She was there during the tragic incident, and she felt like she could nothing about it, except call 9-1-1. It is not a good sight when you see your friend just get run over like that , and it is more worse because you can’t do anything to save her life. It is really difficult to go through that, and I wish I could take the pain, for both of them. I am trying to be a good friend, and a good supporter. All my love to Arayza, and I hope she gets through it.