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Baker, triathlete suffers head trauma in fall
by Charlotte Woolard - The Garden Island
Kilauea resident Suzi Williams, who fell from a cliff on the Na Pali Coast Saturday, remained in critical condition at Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu yesterday, an official said.
Kaua‘i residents began a fundraiser this week for the 45-year-old owner of Suzi’s Date Bar, a bakery that specializes in wedding cakes and “MacaRudys,” a line of cookies that benefit the local Humane Society.
“We know that there’s going to be a lot of expenses,” said Susan LeHoven, a friend of Williams who spearheads the fund. “She had major head trauma and had surgery to stabilize her. She’s doing as well as can be expected.”
LeHoven and her husband sat in their front yard yesterday with Williams’ dog Rudy at their feet. Leo McCarthy, a friend who witnessed Williams’ fall, recounted the event.
On July 1, Williams went for an open water swim, a three-mile push along the Na Pali Coast from Ke‘e Beach to Waiahuakua Sea Cave, also known as Double Door Cave, he said.
The plan was to swim out to the cave, climb the bed of a waterfall to the top of the cliff and run back to the starting point, said McCarthy, who swam with Williams.
McCarthy met Williams on a six-mile swim, so the trek wasn’t unusual. Despite appearances, McCarthy said, “She’s a tough little sweetheart.”
Four other swimmers made the trek with McCarthy and Williams, all triathlete who get together every Saturday for a challenge, he said. A support boat traveled with them as well, carrying first aid equipment.
When the swimmers reached the cave, McCarthy said, they rode a four- to five-foot surge up to the cliffs, jammed their fingers into crevices and held themselves in place as the water pulled away from the rock. Then they began their ascent.
“Suzi is the weakest swimmer out of the bunch,” McCarthy said. “Everyone was tired. It was a tough day.”
The group climbed up the waterfall that flows down the cliff, then falls through an opening into the sea cave. Climbers up top were knocking loose rocks on the climbers below, and McCarthy stopped ascending. Then he heard Williams yell.
Williams slipped, and she fell 30 feet through the waterfall’s opening into the sea cave, hitting her head on the rock and landing face down in the water, unconscious. Another swimmer plunged after her, turning over her body and pulling her away from the cliffs, out into the open water.
McCarthy said he saw blood all around the swimmers. “It was unimaginable trauma,” he said.
Williams sustained injuries to the top of her head and her face.
“It usually takes hours and hours to get people out of there,” McCarthy said. But the group saw kayakers passing nearby, and hailed them for support. The kayakers supplied life jackets.
“Then a power boat appears,” McCarthy said.
Williams was loaded onto the small craft. A larger snorkeling boat that arrived was able to contact the Coast Guard.
The smaller boat shuttled Williams to Ke‘e Beach. A German trauma doctor happened to be there, and an ambulance arrived within a minute to rush Williams to Wilcox Hospital. She was later flown to Oah‘u.
“It just shows how she’s being watched over,” LeHoven said.
“Everybody felt guilty,” McCarthy said, but “she was with the people she loved, doing what she loved. And it was nobody’s fault.”
To make a donation, write to The Suzi Fund, P.O. Box 1156, Kilauea, HI 96754.
• Charlotte Woolard, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or cwoolard@kauaipubco.com.
Kaua‘i residents began a fundraiser this week for the 45-year-old owner of Suzi’s Date Bar, a bakery that specializes in wedding cakes and “MacaRudys,” a line of cookies that benefit the local Humane Society.
“We know that there’s going to be a lot of expenses,” said Susan LeHoven, a friend of Williams who spearheads the fund. “She had major head trauma and had surgery to stabilize her. She’s doing as well as can be expected.”
LeHoven and her husband sat in their front yard yesterday with Williams’ dog Rudy at their feet. Leo McCarthy, a friend who witnessed Williams’ fall, recounted the event.
On July 1, Williams went for an open water swim, a three-mile push along the Na Pali Coast from Ke‘e Beach to Waiahuakua Sea Cave, also known as Double Door Cave, he said.
The plan was to swim out to the cave, climb the bed of a waterfall to the top of the cliff and run back to the starting point, said McCarthy, who swam with Williams.
McCarthy met Williams on a six-mile swim, so the trek wasn’t unusual. Despite appearances, McCarthy said, “She’s a tough little sweetheart.”
Four other swimmers made the trek with McCarthy and Williams, all triathlete who get together every Saturday for a challenge, he said. A support boat traveled with them as well, carrying first aid equipment.
When the swimmers reached the cave, McCarthy said, they rode a four- to five-foot surge up to the cliffs, jammed their fingers into crevices and held themselves in place as the water pulled away from the rock. Then they began their ascent.
“Suzi is the weakest swimmer out of the bunch,” McCarthy said. “Everyone was tired. It was a tough day.”
The group climbed up the waterfall that flows down the cliff, then falls through an opening into the sea cave. Climbers up top were knocking loose rocks on the climbers below, and McCarthy stopped ascending. Then he heard Williams yell.
Williams slipped, and she fell 30 feet through the waterfall’s opening into the sea cave, hitting her head on the rock and landing face down in the water, unconscious. Another swimmer plunged after her, turning over her body and pulling her away from the cliffs, out into the open water.
McCarthy said he saw blood all around the swimmers. “It was unimaginable trauma,” he said.
Williams sustained injuries to the top of her head and her face.
“It usually takes hours and hours to get people out of there,” McCarthy said. But the group saw kayakers passing nearby, and hailed them for support. The kayakers supplied life jackets.
“Then a power boat appears,” McCarthy said.
Williams was loaded onto the small craft. A larger snorkeling boat that arrived was able to contact the Coast Guard.
The smaller boat shuttled Williams to Ke‘e Beach. A German trauma doctor happened to be there, and an ambulance arrived within a minute to rush Williams to Wilcox Hospital. She was later flown to Oah‘u.
“It just shows how she’s being watched over,” LeHoven said.
“Everybody felt guilty,” McCarthy said, but “she was with the people she loved, doing what she loved. And it was nobody’s fault.”
To make a donation, write to The Suzi Fund, P.O. Box 1156, Kilauea, HI 96754.
• Charlotte Woolard, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or cwoolard@kauaipubco.com.
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