MEDIA RELEASE

Fire/Rescue units responded to a 11:10 a.m. alarm Monday (Feb 21) to the Mahukona area in North Kohala for a swimmer who was struck by a boat.

A 40 year-old man was swimming with a friend in waters between Mahukona and Kapaa Park when he was struck by a boat knocking him unconscious and cutting him with the propellers. The people on the boat pulled the man out of the water, phoned for help and brought the man to Mahukona Pier.

Crews from the North Kohala fire station found the man at Mahukona Pier barely breathing with lacerations from the boat’s propellers to his head, shoulders and arm areas. The man was flown to North Hawaii Community Hospital by Chopper Two.