Posted on: Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Lawsuit filed in May 2002 drowning at 'Ohe'o Gulch
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
Less than two weeks after a Kentucky man and his 8-year-old daughter were swept to their deaths by an 'Ohe'o Gulch flood, a lawsuit was filed yesterday on behalf of a New York City woman who drowned there under similar circumstances a year ago.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Honolulu by the family of Xina Wendt, 41, who died at 'Ohe'o on May 4 last year when swift-moving stream waters carried her into the ocean.
The suit blames Haleakala National Park rangers for botching a rescue attempt and for not warning about dangerous conditions.
"It was a very tragic death," said Honolulu attorney Mark Davis, who filed the suit. "It's one that should not have happened."
The National Park Service rejected any wrongdoing in the family's initial $22 million claim in a letter dated April 9 — the day before Kevin and Elizabeth Brown were swept over Makahiku Falls.
According to the suit, swift-moving water knocked Wendt into one of the lower Pools of 'Ohe'o and carried her into the ocean. Rangers were notified immediately, and brought a flotation bag attached to a long line.
The suit says Wendt's husband, Tim Wendt, dived into the surf, where he pulled her to "temporary safety" 10 to 15 feet from shore. But a ranger who arrived with the life-saving equipment "burst into tears and broke down emotionally," forcing bystanders to assume command of the rescue, the suit says.
One of spectators threw the flotation device into the water near the woman, but the panic-stricken ranger threw the other end of the line into the ocean, rendering the device useless, according to the lawsuit.
Another ranger arrived with a mountaineering rope, and a spectator volunteered to wrap the rope around himself and swim out to save the woman. However, he was ordered by the same ranger who had botched the original rescue not to enter the surf and to wait for help summoned from Hana, 10 miles away, the suit says.
Tim Wendt watched as his wife was washed out to her death, the lawsuit says.
Haleakala National Park Superintendent Don Reeser could not be reached for comment yesterday.
According to a May 7 report by chief ranger Karen Newton, Tim Wendt, who was swept into the stream while attempting to rescue his wife, grabbed and held her briefly before a large ocean wave came into the mouth of the stream, washing him onto a rock in the middle of a pool and pulling his wife back into the stream and then into the sea.
The report says rangers stabilized Wendt in the pool with lines and a flotation vest and persuaded him not to attempt to follow his wife into the ocean surf. Since the water was too swift to pull the man to safety, a helicopter was summoned. The helicopter pulled Tim Wendt from the rock, then retrieved Xina Wendt's body, the report says.
According to the report, another ranger managed a crowd of more than 35 bystanders. The report credits her with saving lives by persuading others not to enter the ocean.
