I think we all know that Brian Baker and Adam Griffiths, two visitors from San Francisco, drowned in the huge northwest swell Jan. 18. I know we all want their families and friends to hear and accept our very sad
I think we all know that Brian Baker and Adam Griffiths, two visitors from San Francisco, drowned in the huge northwest swell Jan. 18. I know we all want their families and friends to hear and accept our very sad condolences. We ourselves also need some sympathy and condolences, and this piece will be my attempt to address some of our Kauaians’ emotions about this tragedy.
It’s fair to say that I and my active team of ocean safety advocates experienced a real kick in the teeth. We sometimes think we’re making progress in our effort to reduce drownings on Kaua‘i, and on Friday it felt like our hopes and accomplishments got wiped out, along with Brian and Adam. I’ve learned quite a few things in my years of work on this issue.
One is that no matter how well we do, we’ll get crushed from time to time. Another is that no matter how well we do, we can do better. And another is how deeply all of us on Kaua‘i, whether or not we put in long hours working on ocean safety advocacy, feel the hurt when these tragedies happen.
Furthermore, we not only feel hurt, we feel frustrated and maybe even a bit angry — and it’s inevitable that some of our anger will be directed at people who set themselves up for tragedy by going into unsafe conditions, i.e., walking too near the water on a day when Hawaiian “bombers” are crushing our shoreline. We who live here know that the big wave sets can be up to 25 minutes apart, i.e., the ocean can look completely calm for that long a time before the beach or rock ledge becomes nothing short of a wild water maelstrom, one that no human can survive.
We also know that these swells hit our islands with no offshore continental shelf to buffer them, and the swells therefore unleash power that isn’t seen on continents except during hurricanes.
But our visitors don’t know this. Is it because they’re stupid? Well, I once helped resuscitate (successfully, I’m pleased to report) a man who had won the Nobel Prize in Physics and who didn’t know about our rip currents. So no, “stupid” isn’t the right word — not only because it’s not accurate but also because it’s quite condescending.
Other, better words include “naïve” (about this issue), and “clueless” (about what can happen if you don’t understand our conditions). And please don’t forget: We are know-it-alls about our conditions over here, but put us in other conditions and situations and we too may well be naïve, clueless, over-adventurous — and maybe a tragedy waiting to happen.
As an ER doctor I of course see many other tragedies, people being taken from us prematurely because of suicide, car accidents, cancer, infections, obesity (and related heart problems), alcoholism, and in fact the entire gamut of Western world human conditions. (In other parts of the world starvation would be added to this list). I’ve sought out and accepted a leadership role on this one issue of Kaua‘i drowning, in part because many of the other areas have solid and established advocacy groups.
I think it’s the publicity that surrounds double drownings (in contrast to when a beloved family member in the community dies of cancer) that causes them to hit all of us hard, kick all of us in the gut. Also the suddenness of it, and too often the young age of the victim.
I know that I and our ocean safety team (lay and professional) will try and do a better job of educating our visitors and our people about our local conditions. (Please check out daily conditions at the website www.kauaiexplorer.com). I know that many of you do a terrific job of trying to ask our visitors to be careful.
And I, unfortunately, know that we’ll get kicked in the gut again. The ocean surrounds us, attracts us, and can probe and expose any naiveté’ or need for adventure that we might have. Beautiful beaches, golden sands, exciting fishing and diving and surfing, and an emotionless and cruel sea that has claimed its victims throughout human history.
I have no resounding conclusion or statement with which to end this piece. I’m writing it simply because I have the need to share some of my emotions about what happened, and to let any readers know that we are all in this together as far as our emotions, and our prayers, are concerned.
Thank you for listening.
• Dr. Monty Downs is president of the Kaua‘i Lifeguard Association and an emergency room doctor at Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
