Two young Kaua’i girls responded like paramedics when fate stepped in while they were on a fishing expedition with a family friend. Laurie Anna Simao, 6, and Elizabeth Simao, 8, were out fishing on the morning of March 28 when
Two young Kaua’i girls responded like paramedics when fate stepped in while they were on a fishing expedition with a family friend.
Laurie Anna Simao, 6, and Elizabeth Simao, 8, were out fishing on the morning of March 28 when their guide, a 63-year-old man, complained of feeling poorly.
The trio were picking up nets on the Hule’ia Stream, which empties into Nawiliwili Harbor, when Mitchell Nakamura fell ill. He managed to get the boat back to the shore but could do no more.
Elizabeth told her younger sister Laurie to stay with the sick man, and then went for help. She found an adult who called 9-1-1, and then Elizabeth led the paramedics to the man.
Nakamura had suffered a severe stroke and has not improved. He remained hospitalized in intensive care at Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
But without the aid of the two sisters who were cool and calm beyond their years, things could have been worse, according to officials.
The girls and their mother, Narry, visited Nakamura at the hospital last Wednesday.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net