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COURTESY MAUI POLICE DEPARTMENT Maui Police Chief Thomas Phillips congratulated Molokai's Carol Beadle yesterday for receiving the Civilian Medal of Valor. Beadle helped to save the life of a shark attack victim last year.

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Rescuer honored in
diver’s shark attack

A Molokai woman gets the highest
police medal for civilians

WAILUKU » Molokai resident Carol Beadle has been awarded the Maui Police Department's Civilian Medal of Valor for rescuing a diver who was attacked by a shark.

Beadle, 62, a retired Haleakala National Park ranger, received a certificate and the medal yesterday during ceremonies before the Maui County Police Commission.

Beadle, who lives near Kupeke Fishpond in East Molokai, noticed a diver in distress on the afternoon of Oct. 9, then got into her kayak to rescue the man.

The shark had bitten Oahu resident Davy Sanada in the left shoulder and cheek and returned to attack again, forcing him to use his spear to fend the animal off.

Police said Beadle saw Sanada waving one arm in waist-deep water about 500 to 600 feet from shore. She paddled a borrowed kayak to help him, with an extra paddle on board in case she needed to fight off the shark.

Sanada, then 34, slumped over the kayak as Beadle paddled him to a wall of the fishpond. She then went to a neighbor's house to get help.

Police Chief Thomas Phillips said Beadle paddled out to help Sanada despite the rough water and threat to her own safety.

"This is one brave lady," Phillips said. "We believe she saved his life. That's why we wanted to honor her."

He said the medal is the highest award given by the department to a civilian, and no one else has received one in the seven years that he has been the police chief.

Beadle said yesterday that she wanted to get out to the man because she suspected he had been attacked by a shark and might be attacked again. She was afraid he might not make it out of the water.

"I just wanted to get out there. ... He probably would have bled to death," she said.