News in Waiapua‘a Bay, Shenanigans Bar and Restaurant, Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital, Kauai
NEWS "UPDATE, words from the family after the main story “FAIR WINDS AND FOLLOWING SEAS” A sailor with the U.S. Navy died Saturday afternoon after being pulled from waters at Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, along the island’s west coast. On Saturday, Nov. 22, at approximately 3 p.m., first responders were dispatched to Waiapua‘a Bay, near Shenanigans Bar and Restaurant, following reports of a swimmer in distress. According to the Kauai Police Department, Master-at-Arms 1st Class Jeffrey Diaz, 47, of Florida, had entered the water to rescue two children who were struggling in the high surf. While the children made it back to shore safely, he encountered trouble in the water, police said. Personnel with the Ocean Safety Bureau and Barking Sands Fire and Emergency Services Department pulled him from the water and began lifesaving efforts. He was taken to the Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Master-at-Arms 1st Class Diaz was stationed at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands. —————— HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The family of a Navy officer who drowned off the west coast of Kauai over the weekend is speaking out about the moments leading up to the tragedy. On Saturday, Master-at-Arms 1st Class Jeffrey Diaz, 47, was swimming at Barking Sands, near Shenanigans Bar and Restaurant, when his 9-year-old son got pulled out by a strong wave. His wife says he told his older son to head back to shore, then went and swam out to his younger son. “From what my son said, he was in the middle of the ocean and his dad was swimming with one arm trying to get him to safety. Then he got on his dad’s back and swam for a little bit and then my son said that Jeff told him, ‘Ok bub, you’re going to have to get off my back. I’m going to drown,’” said his wife, Keyonna Fairley. “‘I want you to go. I want you to swim. Don’t stop. You got this. Don’t give up. I love you.’ That was the last words he heard from his dad,” Fairley added. Fairley says her son made it back to shore, and her husband’s body was later found on the beach. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Diaz was stationed at Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands. Fairley says her family has only been on Kauai for three months, and Diaz had planned to retire after this deployment." Find this report and thousands more at searchssh.com searchssh.com - reportssh.com - sshintel.com #hawaii #stolenstuffhawaii #navy #drowning #rescue