Army Spc. Cesar Romero credits God with saving his life during a fall while unconscious from a mountain while hiking on Oahu.
"God is good," said the 25-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier by phone from the Queen’s Medical Center on Tuesday.
Romero, a two-time Afghanistan veteran, was near the top of Puu Manamana Trail in Kaaawa on Sunday when he fell and tumbled 100 feet while unconscious. He awakened and tried to climb up.
About 20 minutes later a Honolulu firefighter hanging from a line below a helicopter picked him up and took him, dangling beneath the chopper, to a nearby beach park. Paramedics took him in serious condition to the hospital.
Romero, a human-resources specialist, said he broke his nose and left wrist in the fall. His left knee was also injured, and his left eye was nearly swollen shut. He hopes to leave the hospital Wednesday.
The incident began after he and a fellow soldier, Diana Velez, made it to the trail’s peak.
Romero, who had been on the trail about six times previously, said he took off his backpack to help Velez climb down from a large rock shortly after leaving the ridge.
"I did it just to make her feel safe," he said.
"I put the bag down. As soon as I put it down, the freaking bag rolled all the way off the mountain."
Romero said he wanted the bag because it contained the keys to his car, which he had driven to the trailhead.
He walked about 100 feet ahead and noticed an area where he could walk at a lower elevation from the trail to look for his bag, which he never recovered.
First he had to traverse along some rocks, then lower himself to another level.
Along the rocks he found an anchored cable — similar to a computer cable and about a half-inch thick — and used the line to lower himself to the ground about 8 feet below.
The 6-foot-2 soldier said his feet were almost touching the smooth rock below when the cable came loose from whatever it was attached to.
"I fell backwards," he said. "I hit my head and I just blacked out."
He estimated he tumbled down another 100 feet after blacking out.
"When I blacked out, I just remember having a bad dream," he said. "It was like a nightmare. All I remember was waking up and I was climbing up the mountain screaming for my friend. And I was covered in blood."
He said it took about five minutes for him to realize where he was.
"It was scary," he said. "That was probably the scariest thing that I ever went through in my life."
He felt two large bumps on his head and thought he was going to die on the mountain.
He said was climbed up until he reached a point where he couldn’t go up or down, then hung onto a root while in extreme pain.
"I looked over to my left, and my wrist was broken," he said. "I couldn’t stand on my left knee."
His friend and another hiker were telling him help was on the way.
Romero, who grew up in the Bronx, N.Y., said he is through hiking Puu Manamana.
"It’s not worth it," he said. "I have two kids."
He has a 5-year-old daughter and a 10-month old son who both live on the mainland.
Thea Ferentinos, president of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, said the trail is "extremely dangerous," with narrow and crumbling ridges. Another hiker died after falling off the trail in 2013.
She said there are ropes along the way that probably shouldn’t be trusted, and that one problem is the trail offers dramatic views for photos along a steep, short climb.
She said the club gives briefings to members before the hike so they do not take it carelessly.
"The experience and wisdom of understanding Hawaii’s rocks and geologic structures and instability is what they (young hikers) don’t have," she said. "That’s what they don’t have, is the caution, wisdom and awareness, and that’s what’s happening."
"That guy is very lucky," she said.
Romero said he learned not to take life for granted, and acknowledged that he failed to ensure that the cable was secure.
"Even myself, I thought I could do anything," he said. "Even a small mistake like this could have ended everything."
