Posted on: Saturday, April 16, 2005

Doctors confident of baby's recovery

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

The 3-month-old who survived a 150-foot plunge in a car from a Maui cliff remained in critical condition yesterday, but a family member said doctors are "very optimistic."

Kaila Ku'ulei Callo is apparently undergoing the last leg of tests at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children to determine whether there will be any permanent physical damage from Wednesday's plunge from a lookout off the Honoapi'ilani Highway in West Maui, said Mary Goodman, the baby's great-grandmother.

A CAT scan found no neurological damage, she said, and doctors have removed a head brace.

"It's looking very optimistic," Goodman said.

When authorities found the tiny baby in the battered 1992 Nissan sedan on the rocky beach below the lookout, she was crying in the back seat, wedged into a space just big enough to hold her, investigators said.

The baby's 16-year-old mom, Tiffany Malia Romena, survived the fall after being ejected from the vehicle about halfway down. She was treated at Maui Memorial Hospital for cuts and bruises and released.

Goodman said Romena is spending time with the baby.

Meanwhile, autopsies were conducted yesterday morning on the two people killed in the crash: Denise Callo, 34, of Hali'imaile, and James Makekau, 16, of Pukalani. Test results won't be known for several weeks, said Maui police Sgt. Barry Aoki.

According to police, the four stopped at the unpaved overlook, the state-owned remnant of an old highway, after a day at the beach in Lahaina. Preparing to leave, the driver, Denise Callo, was making a U-turn when the right front tire caught the edge of the cliff, police said, and the sedan tumbled over sideways down the hill.

Reach Timothy Hurley at (808) 244-4880 or thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com.