Teens rescued after being stranded in a gulch, a man pulled from the rocks below a cliff pounded by surf, another man pulled from the ocean, lifeless, only to be revived by the quick action of two water safety officers.
Teens rescued after being stranded in a gulch, a man pulled from the rocks below a cliff pounded by surf, another man pulled from the ocean, lifeless, only to be revived by the quick action of two water safety officers.
Seven heroes, no deaths.
These are the stories shared and celebrated Saturday night when the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation recognized seven members of the Hawaii Fire Department at a gala held at the Fairmont Orchid for going “above and beyond the call of duty,” risking their lives to save others in 2015.
But if you asked those being recognized, they’d say it’s just what they do.
“They say that we’re heroes,” said fire equipment operator James Wilson, who was among the honorees. “It’s just what we chose to do as a job.”
The foundation recognized Wilson for his role in two rescues last year.
While Wilson said it was “great to be recognized,” recognition isn’t what he’s after. Instead, Wilson took the opportunity to heap praise on the foundation honoring him and his colleagues Saturday at the Fairmont Orchid.
“What the community doesn’t realize is the cost of a good rescue,” he said. “The Sayres absorb a lot of that.”
The Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation was created by Laura Mallery-Sayre and Dr. Frank Sayre after the death of their son, Danny.
The 25-year-old died during a hiking trip to the back of Pololu Valley near Kapaloa Falls.
Frank Sayre said the entire rescue team from Waiakea Fire Station spent close to 10 hours trying to get to Danny Sayre 500 feet below on the valley floor with a helicopter.
At one point, the crew called the mission off, citing a lack of ropes long enough to get to the floor.
“They were gonna have to fly to Oahu to get them,” Sayre said.
However, three men from the department volunteered to continue the mission.
“The rescue occurred in such a narrow and densely forested location that tree limbs were shredded by the helicopter’s rotors as two firefighters courageously plummeted into the canyon to retrieve Daniel’s body, steps from Kapaloa,” the foundation’s site states.
Out of gratitude, the couple started the foundation in their son’s memory with the goal of gathering community support to assist the island’s rescue crews in ensuring they’re well-equipped to do their job.
And support them they have.
In the foundation’s 19 years, it’s raised more than $1 million from the community for the purchase of much needed equipment, covering everything from ropes and whistles to underwater communication systems and a public announcement system for Kahaluu Beach Park.
That equipment, Mallery-Sayre said, helps to ensure “people are rescued, not recovered.”
Throughout the night, fire officials repeatedly noted how equipment donated by the foundation played a pivotal role in saving lives as they recalled the daring missions rescuers took on.
In July 2015, when two teenage boys exploring a gulch at Kalopa State Park were stranded in the park after nightfall, a team from Waiakea went out to locate them.
The thick vegetation prevented any effective use of headlamps, said Battalion Chief Jerry Lum, who narrated the video recapping the rescue. That difficulty forced responders to verbally call out to the hikers and listen for a response.
When rescue personnel found the hikers, one was assisted up, but the other had to be lowered to bottom of the ravine before he could be raised up the opposite wall to the trail. Both hikers were uninjured.
In December of that year, rescue personnel responded to another incident, this time in Puna.
One night, a 27-year-old was walking along the cliff line without a flashlight when he lost his footing and fell 30 feet onto the boulders below. A witness called 911, spurring crews into action.
Soon after their arrival, rescue personnel began repelling down the cliff, including Wilson.
While Wilson secured the man to be lifted off the boulders, just below the top of the cliff was hanging acting fire rescue specialist Lui Sales, who helped the man get over the cliff’s edge onto the ground above, said fire equipment operator Michael Akau.
Throughout the rescue, fire rescue specialist Chad Chun Fat was at the edge of the cliff, relaying commands between those below and the haul team closer to the engine.
“Having an innate understanding of each other allowed the rescuers to work as a highly efficient team,” Akau said in the video.
The man who fell, he added, only suffered a fracture in his foot.
Akau added that all the ropes and hardware used in the mission were purchased through donations to the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation.
The third rescue took place at Laaloa Beach in November 2015.
Water safety officers Anton Finley and Ryan McGuckin were working at that beach when they saw a beachgoer fail to resurface immediately after jumping headfirst into the barrel of a wave.
McGuckin said in the video he and Finley went after the man, who was unresponsive.
When they got him to the shoreline, the two performed CPR for about 8 minutes, he said, until medics arrived.
The man had reportedly drowned and suffered a heart attack as well as a broken neck. Despite it all, he survived due to the quick action of McGuckin and Finley.
The man they saved wrote a letter to the foundation, which Mallery-Sayre read out loud.
“They literally brought me back to life,” she read from the letter.
“Without hesitation or worry for their own safety Tony and Ryan immediately pounced on the task of saving me,” she read later. “Once they had me on shore, they worked with great conviction and purpose to restore life functions.”
The man, George Rider, included a $5,000 check to the foundation.
Rider also thanked Finley and McGuckin in the video recap of the rescue. While the two knew the man survived, they had never before spoken to him.
In an interview, Finley said the experience of meeting Rider that way “was like chicken skin.”
“The only time we ever saw him was when he was dead,” Finley said. “It was like seeing a ghost.”
Mallery-Sayre noted that in all the rescues, not a single one ended in someone losing his or her life.
Saturday night, the Sayre Foundation recognized all of the men who assisted in these rescue efforts.
They included Akau, Chun Fat, Finley, McGuckin, Sales, Wilson and Don Teramoto, who took part in the rescue at Kalopa State Park.
Mallery-Sayre said she and her husband owe the foundation’s success to their supporters.
“The truth is it’s not just Frank and I,” she said. “It’s our community.”
This year, said Mallery-Sayre, the foundation raised at least $81,000. That’s before they account for the proceeds from the event’s silent auction, which gave attendees a chance to bid on a variety of gifts and getaways.
“It was exceptional,” Mallery-Sayre said of the gala. “Best event ever.”
Mallery-Sayre said that while the rescuers say they aren’t out for accolades, the community has a responsibility to recognize its heroes.
“We all need to be recognized for our efforts when we’ve done our jobs well,” she said.
She added that the community also has a role in supporting the fire department and rescue crews.
“They say it takes a community to raise a child,” she said. “I say it takes a community to save a child.”
