Alaska visitor who died at Hanalei beach identified
The Garden Island
The visitor from Alaska who died Sunday while wading in the water at Hanalei Bay has been identified as Frank Palmer.
Palmer, 70, of Juneau, was pulled from the water late Sunday morning and pronounced dead at the scene, county officials said.
According to a preliminary report, he had been wading in the water about 20 feet from shore about 11:50 a.m. when a possible medical condition caused him to fall in.
The man’s grandson had been with him just a few minutes before and had left to get a bodyboard from the shore. When the younger man turned around and was getting ready to return to the water, he saw his grandfather signaling for help, a county news release said. He tried to get back out quickly, but when he reached his grandfather, the older man was facedown in the water.
Lifeguards brought the victim to shore and began CPR. When firefighters from the Hanalei station arrived, they took over CPR, and then turned the scene over to medics.
The medics pronounced the man dead at the scene.