What It Means To Be Neighborly
Dear Pamela,
I would like to express my gratitude to Mrs. Dorene Kakuda and her son Trevor for their kindness and quick thinking in helping my neighbor, who had fallen face down at the corner of Palolo Avenue and Paalea Street, where there was construction.
Trevor quickly got out of the car and helped her into their car, took her home and gave her first aid.
A week after the incident, Mrs. Kakuda visited my neighbor to make sure she was all right.
Iris Mieko,
Palolo
Dear Iris,
Dorene Kakuda says 95-year-old Mrs. Yonezawa often is seen walking in the neighborhood.
“On this day, we were on our way home and she was walking in the road because the sidewalk was all torn up,” she says.
“She had an umbrella. A gust of wind came by and knocked her on the ground. Trevor ran out immediately and found her face bleeding. Such a nice lady. Her husband passed away last year at the age of 100. They had no children, so she was all alone, no one to take care of her. She asked to be taken to her church, where the priest called her in-laws, who took her to the emergency room. I brought her some food later and she said she was fine now.”
Dear Pamela,
Mahalo to the wonderful people who came to my aid when my leg gave way at Kahala Mall. I will never forget your kindness and the comfort you gave me. I didn’t get names, as I knew I would never remember them, but your faces are so present in my mind’s eye: first, a gentle, soft-spoken woman, then a kind gentleman who was able to stay until the paramedics arrived, and also a big-hearted, off-duty firefighter from the Hawaii Kai station.
You were all just incredible. The mall security were two young gentlemen who did what they could.
Finally, the two EMS men who transported me to the hospital were amazing in every way. It turned out that I had a femur fracture from too-long use of a certain medication.
The healing has been slow but steady. Thank you again, for all you did and for who you are!
Judy Koseki,
Aina Haina
Dear Judy,
“Yes, I recall this call and the patient,” says Howard Fujimoto, Hawaii Kai Emergency Medical Services supervisor. “It’s good to hear that she is doing OK, and we do wish her a speedy recovery. This patient was cared for by paramedic Dan Kuwahara, along with an offduty HFD personnel. Also, the security for Kahala Mall deserves credit, as well. It was a team effort, and Ms. Koseki was a great patient.”
Dear Pamela,
I would like to extend my thanks and APPLAUSE to a group of gentlemen from New Hope Church.
One of them came upon my car stalled at the eastbound onramp of H1 and Nimitz Highway. Rather than blocking traffic in an unsafe place, he called for his friends, who showed up in an SUV with bright emergency flashers. They pushed my black Nissan Pathfinder to safety and then, after ascertaining that the likely problem was either the battery or the alternator, jumpstarted my truck from a charging pack, which one of them went off to get after deciding that it would be unsafe to try to position their vehicle to do the jump the usual way.
While he was off getting the pack, two of them waited with me.
Mahalo to them for saving me and getting me on the road faster than the 1-and-a-half- to 2-hour estimated wait time that AAA gave me!
Lisa Seng,
Punchbowl
Dear Lisa,
Mary Waialeale, assistant to Pastor Wayne Cordeiro, is not surprised.
“One of New Hope’s messages is to always reach out and help a person in need. We are a part of this community. We are all brothers and sisters.”
If you know someone who deserves some Applause, send your letters to Pamela Young, MidWeek Applause, KITV, 801 S. King St., Honolulu, HI 96813. Include your name, phone number and, if possible, the phone number of your “applaudee” so we can contact him or her.
