JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Larry Cummins chatted yesterday with HFD Capt. Kenison Tejada as he recalled how he helped a 15-year-old girl to safety Saturday as she and her grandfather were trapped in a car underwater in the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor.
|
|
Rescuer recalls fight to save life
A Navy petty officer wonders why no one else offered to help
Larry Cummins could barely see the top of the sunken car, but he saw the bubbles. That was enough for him to jump into the putrid Ala Wai Yacht Harbor.
With eyes wide open, "I was swimming in black; it was just dark," said the 37-year-old Navy petty officer first class.
911 AUDIO TRANSCRIPTS
Audio transcripts of 911 phone calls made from inside the sinking car and from witnesses trying to get help are presented below.
>> Caller in sinking car
>> Witness on shore
|
After several dives and trying all four doors, he grabbed a handful of hair.
Just like that, he rescued a 15-year-old girl from the sunken car Saturday, when her 66-year-old step-grandfather, attorney Michael F. McCarthy of Kaimuki, drove his white Cadillac Deville into the harbor. He was found in the back seat by fire rescuers. He did not survive.
The girl's aunt Gwenn Daley said Cummins performed "truly a heroic act. It's hard to find the words to express our gratitude," she said. "He's gone above and beyond the expectations of your average person, your average good citizen. There were other people at the scene who did not jump in, but he did."
Since the incident, Cummins has been wondering why no one else jumped in to help. He was at the Waikiki Yacht Club when he heard a car had struck his truck. Police said McCarthy reversed his car from a parking stall when he hit another vehicle, moved forward and struck another vehicle. He then reversed, jumped a curb and fell into the water.
"We noticed some bubbles coming up, and we could just barely see the top of the car," said Cummins, when he decided to jump in, not knowing how deep it was. He dived at least five more times, trying every door, before opening the driver's door, and at least four more times before getting the girl out, he said.
After rescuing her, he heard a man was also in the car. He dived two more times without luck. That was when fire rescue divers went in and retrieved McCarthy.
With the girl, he was not about to give up. "I had ahold of her and my breath was running out," he said. "I wasn't going to let go."
With the help of his friend on a catamaran, Cummins tried to bring the girl out of the water onto the boat. When that proved too difficult, he swam her to the pier, where she was given CPR.
Cummins, the father of a son, 14, and a daughter, 8, said he did not know he had pulled a 15-year-old girl from the car.
"When I talked to her father, I thought about my own kids," he said, and realized it was someone else's daughter he had saved.
"They said she was breathing, and I felt a sigh of relief," he said. "I felt really good when she was blinking and talking."
The Utah native said he had been pondering the spiritual question, Why am I here?
"Maybe this was the reason why," he said.
The Medical Examiner's Office said McCarthy drowned. Police said speed and alcohol might have been factors in the accident.
Daley said McCarthy and her mother, Audrey, had remarried Dec. 13, more than 20 years after being divorced, and had planned a reception next month.
Despite being known as a hard-nosed, successful trial lawyer, McCarthy was well liked by many, said friend and fellow attorney Wayne Sakai.
After a stint in the Navy and graduating from law school, McCarthy, who was born in Pennsylvania, came to Hawaii in 1968 and became "more local than locals," immersing himself in island culture, Sakai said.
Besides Audrey, McCarthy is survived by daughters Michelle and Melissa, stepdaughters Janet Yocum and Gwenn Daley, and four grandchildren.
Services for McCarthy will be held 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Borthwick Mortuary. Call after 11 a.m. Aloha attire. No flowers.
Here is the transcript of a 911 call from the granddaughter of attorney Michael McCarthy from inside the car that had gone into the Ala Wai Boat Harbor:
HFD: Fire Department.
Dispatcher: Tell the Fire Department where you are.
Girl: "I'm in Waikiki Yacht Club and we're sinking in the car, and I can't open the doors."
HFD: OK. Where are you?
Girl: In Waikiki Yacht Club
HFD: At the yacht club?
Girl: Yeah and the water ...
HFD: I'm sorry. What is your problem?
Girl: I'm in a car, and I can't open the doors, and the water's coming in and we're sinking. I don't want to drown.
HFD: Waikiki Yacht Club?
Girl: Yes.
HFD: OK. We're sending some trucks.
Girl: Please hurry.
HFD: OK. Can you open the window? Hello? Hello?
Here is the transcript of a 911 call to the Honolulu Fire Department about the car that went into the Ala Wai Boat Harbor on Saturday:
HFD: Fire Department.
Caller: A car just went into the dock over the dock, and we're at Waikiki Yacht Club. There's somebody in it. A man. It's locked and we can't break the windows.
HFD: How ... is the car ...
Caller: The car's completely under water. I don't know if there's air in it or not. They said the windows are up. We've got a diver in there right now.
HFD: You guys gotta break that window. We've got cars coming already. Caller: Try to break the window?
HFD: Yeah. Try to break that window. There's somebody in there, yeah?