Maui teens recognized for saving life
By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
WAILUKU, Maui — The Maui Police Department yesterday awarded certificates of appreciation to two Lahaina teens who saved 5-year-old Ian Uddifa from drowning during a family party at Wahikuli Wayside Park.
Christie Wilson • The Honolulu Advertiser
One of the rescuers, 15-year-old Kenny Uddifa, is Ian's older brother. The teenager and friend Adrien Cabrera, 14, were walking back from bodyboarding at Ka'anapali at about 4:30 p.m. May 4 when they heard Uddifa's mother screaming and saw Ian floating facedown in the water.
The Maui Police Department gave certificates of appreciation to Kenny Uddifa, left, and Adrien Cabrera, right, for rescuing Kenny's brother Ian, 5, who nearly drowned May 4.
The boy apparently had been swept off the rocks by a wave, but no one had noticed until he was spotted floating about 50 yards to 100 yards offshore.
"I thought I was going to lose my brother ... I did what I had to do," Kenny Uddifa said.
Uddifa and Cabrera paddled their bodyboards out to Ian and brought him back to shore. A crew from the nearby Lahaina Fire Station performed CPR and revived the child. Ian seemed to have no ill effects from his near-death experience as he cavorted from chair to chair yesterday in the waiting area of the Maui police chief's office.
Police Chief Tom Phillips presented the two teens with the certificates during a Maui Police Commission meeting, as their parents and Ian watched. Uddifa accepted the certificate with his right arm in a sling after sustaining a broken bone in his hand in a bicycle accident.
