Hana girl's organs benefit three keiki

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

The parents of a 7-year-old Hana girl buried under 3 feet of sand while playing at the beach last month learned yesterday that her death will mean life to three other children.

Daphne Kawaiaea inspired another girl's family to donate. Family photo

Zaney, the youngest of five children of Daniel Baker Jr. and Nicole Kalama-Baker, was crawling inside a sand tunnel April 27 at Hamoa Beach when it collapsed under a wave. Family members and onlookers tried to dig her out but were unable to do so in time.

The second-grader was rushed to Hana Community Health Center and later flown to Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children.

By April 29, Zaney lay brain-dead in Honolulu with her parents and family by her side.

Despite their grief, the Bakers decided to donate their daughter's organs in hopes other children might receive "her gift of life," according to a statement from the couple.

Their decision was inspired by another Hana girl, Daphne Kawaiaea, 11, who almost died before undergoing heart-transplant surgery Feb. 27. She is now recovering at Stanford University Medical Center in California.

Although not cousins, the two girls share an aunt and uncle in Kappy and Pauline Kalama of Wailuku. Kappy Kalama's sister, Nicole Kalama-Baker, is Zaney's mother; Pauline Kalama's sister, Wallette Kawaiaea, is Daphne's mother.

The Kalamas know all too well about the extraordinary need for organs, especially among children.

"Me and Pauline were at Stanford when Daphne was waiting for her heart,'' Kappy Kalama said. "We saw young children pass away because they didn't receive a heart in time.''

So when the outlook for Zaney appeared grim, the Kalamas approached her parents about organ donation and told the couple to keep Daphne in mind when and if the question were to come up.

"We told them that if we, as a couple, had been asked a few months ago, we would have considered it an issue,'' Kalama said. "Now we would do it in a heartbeat."

Robin Kaufman, director of the Organ Donor Center of Hawai'i, said Zaney's parents should be commended for their selflessness given the horrible circumstances surrounding their daughter's death.

"She was such a young child," she said. "We're grateful the family even considered it."

Kaufman said organs are taken only from those who are brain-dead, and then there are tests to determine medical suitability. In the end, she said, only about half of those asked end up agreeing to organ donation.

More than 300 Hawai'i residents are on an organ donor waiting list, a number that has doubled since 1997 because of the growing number of transplants and a relatively high rate of organ failure.

"Every single donation is important,'' she said.

According to a recent survey, Kaufman said, two-thirds of organ donors have found some comfort in their loss through the act of giving.

Kalama said it's helped Zaney's parents cope with her death.

"At least part of her is still on this Earth somewhere," he said.

A celebration of Zaney's life will be held at 8 a.m. Saturday at St. Mary's Church In Hana, with a Mass at 11 a.m. and burial to follow.

Correction: The kidneys of 7-year-old Zaney Ann Kalama-Baker of Hana, Maui were transplanted into two adults. A previous version of this story was incorrect.