HANALEI — Gliding across the water on a surfboard Saturday morning at Black Pot Beach, it was hard to believe just four years ago Maren Nakamura was unable to walk or talk after suffering severe head trauma. “It brings tears
HANALEI — Gliding across the water on a surfboard Saturday morning at Black Pot Beach, it was hard to believe just four years ago Maren Nakamura was unable to walk or talk after suffering severe head trauma.
“It brings tears to my eyes,” said her mother, Marida Dorado.
Kaua‘i Ocean Recreation Experience, a new nonprofit supported by the Young Men’s Christian Association, held its first event this weekend for residents with disabilities.
“KORE is awesome for participants like my daughter,” Dorado said. “It’s well overdue.”
Nakamura, along with five other participants, showed no fear as they caught the gentle waves of Hanalei Bay with the assistance of the island’s firefighters, therapists and several volunteers.
Katie Groff of Hanapepe and her friend Ashley Diaz woke up early to drive to the North Shore and be a part of the inaugural weekend event.
“It’s important to make things accommodating to people with disabilities,” Groff said, who also volunteers at ‘Ohana Sports Medicine.
Surfing is such a big part of Kaua‘i. People who may not otherwise get the chance to go to the beach have the opportunity to do so with an organization like KORE, Diaz said.
The stars must have been aligned when both Susie Woolway, speech therapist for ‘Ohana Sports Medicine and co-founder of Think BIG, and Kurt Leong, captain of the Hanalei fire station, were inspired to start an organization for Kaua‘i long before they ever met or knew one another.
Leong had just completed training with Access Surf Hawai‘i, a similar program on O‘ahu, when Woolway made a phone call to the nonprofit to find out if it would be feasible for Kaua‘i.
After getting in touch with one another and discovering their coinciding efforts, it was a year and a half of phone calls and e-mails later when they decided to follow Access Surf Hawai‘i’s model and collaborated to form KORE.
As a surfing enthusiast, Leong said it was his way of giving back to the community.
“Everyone has something to offer,” he said.
It was obvious that many were willing to extend their help for Saturday’s event with donations filtering in from businesses and organizations from across the island, such as lent surfboards, soft-seat carriers for transporting people across the sand to the ocean, rash guards, life vests and wood for a wheelchair ramp. And with approximately seven volunteers for every participant this weekend, Kaua‘i’s compassionate spirit was definitely in the air that morning.
“People just enjoy helping other people,” said Kaina Costa, a firefighter at the Waimea station who was an integral part in forming the nonprofit.
This was the first time he got to see his brother, Barry Tai Kamalei Costa, on a surfboard. He suffered severe head trauma after being hit by a vehicle in front of Coco Palms in 1979 when he was 5 years old.
“The whole idea is to bless other people,” he said. “I love to help people.”
For more information about how to get involved, call Leong at 651-6416.
• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com.
