For former University of Hawaii football player Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea, a memorable experience in a lifetime of experiences was “The Catch.”

He had trained and studied extensively for the just-in-case situation. Then at 5 a.m. on a September day last year, he got the call. Kema-Kaleiwahea and his cohort hopped in an ambulance and sped to a home in Seattle. With the midwife too far away and the clock tick-tick-ticking, Kema-Kaleiwahea recalled, “my partner and I looked at (the woman in labor) and said, ‘we’re going to do this. We’re trained to do this.’”

The two firefighters then helped with the successful delivery in the woman’s living room. “I got to catch the baby,” Kema-Kaleiwahea said.

In recalling that experience, Kema-Kaleiwahea mused: “don’t listen to Coach Chow.” It was Norm Chow, the former UH head coach, who had moved Kema-Kaleiwahea from pass-catching tight end to defensive end.

It was yet another example of how the 2012 Kamehameha Schools graduate can transform circumstances that appear scrambled into sunny-side-up outcomes.

In 2013, as a backup player at the University of Arizona, Kema-Kaleiwahea learned that one of his adoptive parents was abusing his foster siblings. Relatives took in three of the kids. An 18-year-old Kema-Kaleiwahea and his then-girlfriend Briana Anela Summers decided to become foster parents to the remaining two boys who had been placed in group homes.

A year later, in a courthouse in downtown Tucson, Kema-Kaleiwahea and Summers were married. “It was awesome,” Kema-Kaleiwahea said, noting Summers’ mother, her best friend and the two boys served as witnesses. “We got pretty cool pics from that day.”

The couple began the process of adopting the two boys. “We love them,” Kema-Kaleiwahea said. “Adopting them was one of the best decisions we made.”

Kema-Kaleiwahea applied — and received — a release from Arizona. He then accepted a scholarship offer from Chow. The UH scholarship paid for Kema-Kaleiwahea’s tuition, school expenses and rent on a modest apartment. “You had to rely on other things,” he said. “We were working while also trying to take care of the kids and going to school and also playing football.”

Kema-Kaleiwahea worked for a restaurant that catered private parties, and moonlighted providing security at clubs. “Whatever job I could get my hands on,” he said. Summers worked for the Queen Lili‘uokalani Trust.

Both eventually earned UH degrees.

Three years ago, the couple planned for the next phase. Kema-Kaleiwahea decided to leave a lucrative job as a production company driver to fulfill a childhood dream. “I grew up in Kalihi, and I remember the ladder truck rolling through,” he said. “I thought maybe I should give it a shot. It came down to: what are my values? I wanted to help people.”

He applied for the Seattle Fire Department. The process required five interviews, two physical tests and eight months of training. In the meantime, Summers was accepted into the University of Washington School of Law. “She is the heart and soul of the family,” Kema-Kaleiwahea said. “She’s striving to do bigger things.”

Two weeks ago, the family celebrated a milestone when elder son Luke Kaleiwahea graduated from Kamehameha, where he was a boarding student the past three years. Luke was a defensive end who was named to the 2021 All-ILH second team and received All-State honorable mention. He will be attending Washington State this fall.

Kai Kaleiwahea will be a senior at Woodinville (Wash.) High, where he is a safety on the Falcons’ football team.

Summers, who begins her final year of law school this fall, is interning at Miller Nash Graham &Dunn, the eighth-largest law firm in Seattle.

“We made it home base,” Kema-Kaleiwahea said of the Northwest. “We bought a house up here. Life is good. I’m doing a lot better than I deserve. I guess I’ve been going in the right direction. Everything is awesome.”