Splash!

Daniel Sayre Foundation Saves Ocean Lives

Imagine you are ulua fishing. It is night. The bell starts ringing, so you go to pull your rod from the holder. You slip and fall off the cliff.

There’s a good chance that the fall has injured you – perhaps a broken arm or a head blow resulting in a concussion. Dazed, you are in the surf zone getting pounded. Soon, you are swept offshore in a vicious riptide.

Do you have a safety plan and lifesaving gear?

The Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation has both. In 1997, 25-year-old Danny Sayre died after a tragic 500-foot fall in Pololū Valley on Hawai‘i Island, near Kapaloa Falls. After many failed retrieval attempts, three firemen volunteered. In the dangerous mission, tree limbs were shredded by the helicopter’s blades as the firefighters succeeded in recovering the body.

”We decided that a memorial fund honoring the Hawai‘i County Fire Department was the best way to show our gratitude,” says Danny’s father, Frank Sayre.

For 25 years Frank and his wife, Laura—along with the Daniel Sayre Foundation—have joined with others and bought ocean-rescue equipment that has saved lives.

Each year, they also honor a first responder who has been a hero in a lifesaving rescue.

If you fall off your boat while you are alone, what do you need to do