When Lifeguard Joey Cadiz, a member of Unit 15, leapt into action to rescue his North Shore neighbors during the Kona Lows, he was simply acting on the instincts of someone who long ago “fell in love” with public safety.
Featured in Honolulu Magazine’s October issue, Cadiz recalled getting “frantic” calls in the middle of the night about the dangerous conditions on the North Shore. “My lifeguarding instincts snapped into action, and I decided to get there as quickly as possible,” he told Honolulu Magazine.
Cadiz alongside first responders and other good Samaritans rescued nearly 100 people, the magazine reports.
In the two months following the storm, Cadiz took a temporary assignment with the City & County of Honolulu to serve as a liaison with the community during recovery efforts. He’s back in the ocean now with a new perspective: “My love for different parts of the North Shore has expanded because of the floods, and my connections deepened,” he told Honolulu Magazine.
