A 17-year-old Oahu waterman became a hero when he found a man in distress in the waters off the island’s south shore.
Spencer Allen, a student at Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu, was heading out on a Jet Ski for a foiling session with a friend when he heard cries for help. He steered toward the rocks to speak with witnesses and gather information about the missing person’s last known location.
Allen said he eventually ventured nearly a mile offshore and spotted the man.
“I’ve been in situations where we’ve had to save people, but never like this,” said Allen, an experienced surfer and foiler. “It wasn’t super rough. It was windy enough to be dangerous, of course, the ocean, the tide, the current, he drifted far from wherever he was.”
According to the Honolulu Fire Department, two men were in a 12-foot boat that was sunk by a wave. One man, in his 20s, managed to swim to shore, while the other, in his 50s, was swept out to sea.
“I was scared. I was tearing up a little bit when he was on the Jet Ski. I’ve never experienced something that scary before,” Allen said.
Allen credits his father, a Jet Ski operating instructor for Honolulu Ocean Safety who has worked with the Navy SEALs and the Coast Guard, for preparing him for the rescue.
“Just like all the things my dad taught me, it really worked when it needed to,” Allen said. “If I didn’t know that, it could have gone a completely opposite way. It would have been horrible, but knowing how to get him on the ski safely and where to go was really helpful.”
