Lifeguard Sam Magno had his hands full on Monday afternoon. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
The weather in the Hawaiian Island chain has been wet and wild in recent weeks, and ocean safety officials on Oahu are warning locals and vistors alike to stay out of the ocean for the time being.
“Find another activity,” said Sam Magno, Honolulu Ocean Safety Lifeguard. “Maybe a land activity. Because most of the time, the ocean, it’s going to be brown.”
The warning comes after a scary situation at Nanakuli on the west side of Oahu that could have gone badly, were it not for the quick thinking of a bodyboarder named Kornelius Tabag-Taira and Magno. When Tabag-Taira spotted a pair of swimmers struggling in the waters off Zablan Beach Park late in the afternoon on March 16, he sprang into action and sprint-paddled towards them.
“Once I got to them, one of them was already like this,” he said, hanging his head down as though his face was in the water. “So as I’m trying to get that guy to, you know, breathe, I’m also trying to hold both of them up.”
At the same time, more swimmers in trouble were spotted by lifeguards. It was Magno’s turn to act, so he grabbed the rescue board and paddled out to them. Once they were with him, he took them out to where Tabag-Taira was. According to reports, all of them were caught in a rip. A jet ski was launched from the beach, and thankfully, all the victims were brought to shore.
“Thankfully, the ski came and transported the swimmers to shore quickly and safely,” Magno told reporters with KHON2.
Three men in their 20s and a 12-year-old boy were brought to hospital in serious condition. According to Chris Latronic, the public information officer for the Honolulu Ocean Safety Department, the situation was caused mostly by two things: an uptick in swimmers due to spring break and the recent Kona Low storms.
“It was an interesting situation because we just had big rains that broke open all the rivers, especially on the west side,”Latronic told PEOPLE. “This wouldn’t have happened on a regular day.”
