Rescuers saved lives at Queen’s Bath; please honor the locked gate
Rescuers saved lives at Queen’s Bath; please honor the locked gate
Mahalo to The Garden Island for your excellent write-up (Monday 1/16/21) of the phenomenal rescue of three young people that took place on the treacherous sea cliffs at Queen’s Bath, the preceding Saturday.
Conversations with witnesses have added quite a bit more detail about what took place and, therefore, this additional letter, which praises the skills and courage of our Air 1 helicopter pilots, our search-and-rescue personnel and firefighters.
The skill and courage involved with lowering a Billy Pugh basket with a rescuer in it to people stranded on a cliff being battered by powerful ocean swells was amazing.
Our outstanding county lifeguards also merit our appreciation as they sped to the scene on the Hanalei jet ski. Fortunately, they had the experience and wisdom to determine that entering the area with the ski would only have exacerbated the crisis. They made one of the hardest-but-wisest choices a professional rescuer often faces, and that is to stand down until the rescuer with the proper equipment (in this case Air 1) arrives. What a great team.
The entire community rejoices in the successful outcome and is grateful to the rescue crew for sparing us the agony of having one or more teenagers killed (not to mention the danger to our rescuers).
Your article mentioned that the gate to Queen’s Bath is locked at this time of year but thrill-seekers often find their way around it. We once again implore the public to honor the locked gate.
Laola (Lake) Aea, Kalaheo; president of the Kaua‘i Lifeguard Association
