How an off-duty lifeguard found a missing 17-year-old in the ocean

A screenshot from video footage shows Kahiau Kawai being rescued by Noland Keaulana. (U.S. Coast Guard via CNN Newsource)

It was a typical Wednesday evening for Noland Keaulana, who was fixing his truck at his grandparents’ house when he received an alert on his phone about a 17-year-old missing off the Honolulu coast.

Keaulana, who has been a lifeguard with the Honolulu Ocean Safety Department for 16 years, was off duty that night. Then, his wife called to tell him it was their friend’s son who was missing. For the next two hours, he paced impatiently, contemplating if he should join the search.

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But finally, “I knew I couldn’t waste any more time,” Keaulana told CNN.

The missing 17-year-old was Kahiau Kawai. And as Keaulana and other rescuers made their way to the ocean, Kahiau was already hours into a struggle against the currents dragging him farther and farther out.

Kahiau had accidentally drifted away after his kayak capsized during his high school practice that evening.

“It was pretty rough out there, the waves were super strong and I just couldn’t fight the current. When the sun started setting and I was going further out as it got darker, that’s when I started to worry,” Kahiau told CNN.

He had lost his paddle and had to swim on the side of his 20-foot (6-metre) surf ski kayak, alternating between laying on the kayak and treading water. He shouted for help but nearby boats were too far to hear him, Kahiau said.

“I knew at a certain point that I wasn’t really going to be able to fight the current, so I just tried to relax and keep my calm,” he added. He made a plan: Stay cool, keep swimming, and once the current died down, try to slowly swim back to where he first fell off the kayak.

Kahiau had been paddling with his high school kayaking team from Ala Wai Boat Harbor to Diamond Head. On the way back, his teammates noticed he was missing and called 911 around 6:30 p.m., the Honolulu Fire Department said during a news conference.

The fire department immediately launched a search with multiple boats, aircraft and involving over 50 personnel, including the U.S.Coast Guard. Authorities had learned the teenager’s surf ski had capsized and he was not wearing a life jacket, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Keaulana was one of those rescuers, now desperately searching the ocean, with every passing hour bringing a deepening sense of dread.

“I was starting to lose hope. I don’t know if he’s still hanging on to his kayak, if he’s given up, I’m thinking about the worst-case scenario. I was mad at myself, thinking I should have went earlier,” Keaulana said.

Floating still in the dark, churning waters, Kahiau could see the helicopters searching for him, he said.

“I saw them go to a certain point a bunch of times but they weren’t going as far out as I was and that scared me a little bit,” Kahiau said.

He was afraid of the depths below him, but said he was too busy trying to keep swimming to dwell on his worst fears; he clung to hope, instead.

At around 4 a.m. Thursday, after searching for over eight hours, a U.S.Coast Guard airplane crew spotted the kayak and the teenager clinging onto it.

They deployed a flare to mark the position, contacted Keaulana – the nearest boater – by radio and directed him to Kahiau’s location, the Coast Guard said.

“Boom, he just appeared right in my sight. He’s treading water and hanging on to the midsection of the kayak, and I see his head above the water, and I’m like, wait, is he alive?” Keaulana said. “Then I yelled out ‘Kahiau?’ and when he said, ‘Yes,’ super calm, I just broke down crying.”

By the time he was pulled aboard Keaulana’s boat, the 17-year-old had been out in the ocean for nearly 12 hours.

On the day the teen became stranded, ocean conditions were hazardous, with strong currents, strong winds and a high surf, Keaulana said.

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“I was so scared he had given up because we have people who train for this stuff, and we still have a hard time dealing with being in the water in conditions like that. And this kid somehow survives the whole night,” Keaulana said.

Kahiau fell off the kayak exactly where “all the currents for that evening happen to be zigzagging around back and forth,” Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Zach Hunter told Hawaii News Now.

“It was incredibly rewarding,” he said. “I’ll spare you the expletives when we confirmed that he was on that boat.”

Keaulana, a Polynesian voyager who comes from a Native Hawaiian waterman family including many other lifeguards, has saved thousands of people, including Kahiau. Saving lives, he says, is his passion – and purpose.

“I treat everyone like as they’re my own family member. Pretty much that whole night, I’m out there searching for my own son,” he said. “Being able to find him was very emotional.”

From ‘the worst night’ to the ‘best morning’

The moment Kahiau’s family heard his voice again was an eruption of joy, his mother told CNN.

“It sounded like hyenas and monkeys in our room as we were jumping up and down,” Kelehua Kawai said. “It was the worst night of our lives, followed by the best morning of our lives.”

For the nearly 12 hours he was out there alone, Kahiau’s family felt every second he was missing, trying to assist with searches and waiting impatiently for scarce updates.

“We were just quiet, terrified without words. We battled thoughts of hope, thoughts of despair and the worst case scenarios while trying to maintain our faith in God, our faith in our rescuers, and our faith in the ocean, which is a huge part of our lives out here,” Kawai said.

She considered taking her own surfboard to help search for her son, but was afraid the dangerous currents would end up leaving her other two children “without both their brother or their mom.”

During his time out alone in the Pacific, Kahiau was just as worried about his mother.

One of the first things he said after being rescued was, “I’m worried my mom’s worried about me,” Keaulana said. When he called his family to let them know he was OK, Keaulana said, “I could hear the whole family of background cheering. It was a super emotional ride back to shore.”

Kahiau was taken to a hospital in serious but stable condition and treated for injuries and hypothermia, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

He was released from the hospital Saturday morning and joined his kayaking teammates to cheer them on during their conference championships, Kamehameha Schools told CNN in a statement.

“Today was a celebration of an incredible young man, whose resilient and unbreakable spirit lifted the hearts of an entire community that is rejoicing in a miraculous outcome,” the statement read.

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“To ensure this does not happen again, we have initiated a thorough review of the incident and will hold ourselves accountable to take all necessary actions. We can and will do better.”

Kahiau says he plans to continue kayaking, but he’ll carry this experience with him for the rest of his life.

“I didn’t know I could handle something like that, of that magnitude, and this situation showed me I can,” he said.