Hawaii Kai waterman Robin Bond Jr. says it was "one in a million, unbelievable dumb luck" when he found the body of a missing swimmer in the Portlock area early Sunday evening.
"If it wasn’t pitch black outside standing on the shore, in the water it was absolutely pitch black," said the 40-year-old commercial diver, who has rescued numerous people and received the Honolulu Fire Department civilian Medal of Valor in 2011 for saving a visitor swept out to sea.
Although Sunday’s victim could not be revived, Bond is being credited for his swift initiative in locating the man underwater.
In a phone interview Monday, Bond said he and his family arrived at the beach to have dinner when he decided to catch a few waves bodysurfing just after sunset.
He noticed several people in their 30s in the area of China Walls, pacing and looking around frantically, and one said, "We can’t find our friend," he recalled. "They said his name was T.J. They were pretty blase about it."
They had been drinking and seemed unconcerned about getting help from the Fire Department, Bond said.
Bond had grown up diving, fishing and surfing there, so he knew where to look on the bottom — in a bay just off the point, about 12 to 15 feet down.
"Everything gets sucked through there," he said. "But I wasn’t expecting to find him."
So he dragged one hand along the ocean floor and "randomly happened to find him," feeling the man’s stomach.
"I could tell it was flesh," he said. "I didn’t want to come up without him. I would probably have only one chance of finding him. Without a flashlight or mask, it would probably be slim."
So Bond brought him to the surface and swam him to a flat shelf area, giving rescue breaths every few strokes. He was met by a fire rescue swimmer.
Emergency Medical Services transported the man in critical condition to Straub Clinic & Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The city Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet identified the man.
Hawaii News Now, citing police sources, said the man was visiting from Pennsylvania and was supposed to return home Tuesday.
Honolulu Fire Department Capt. James Todd said HFD got the first call at 6:16 p.m., but it was canceled after receiving a report the swimmer had been found.
HFD received a second call at 6:30 p.m. and launched a rescue watercraft and put a rescue swimmer in the water who tried to revive the victim.
Bond said he’s helped more people than he can count who have gotten into trouble in the ocean. Part of what drives him, he said, is the thought of his buddy Derrick Mirikitani, who blacked out in a 2011 surfing accident and was thought to have been brain dead after being underwater for five to six minutes.
But he made a complete recovery after lifeguards rescued him, Bond said.
"He opened his eyes, and first thing he asked for was myself and my buddy Josh," Bond recalled. "That was rolling around in my mind" during Sunday’s rescue.
