When Spencer Allen and his friend Akahi Hudgens set out on their jet ski for what seemed like an ordinary Saturday afternoon foiling session off East Oahu, Hawaii, they had no idea they would become heroes. The seventeen-year-old senior at Mid-Pacific Institute would soon put his water safety training to the ultimate test.
The two teens were traveling between Spitting Caves and Hanauma Bay when urgent shouts interrupted their afternoon. A dire situation was unfolding in the waters nearby.
Man swept out to sea after boat capsizes
Two men had been out on the water in a twelve-foot boat when disaster struck. A large wave crashed into their vessel, causing it to sink. While the younger of the two men managed to swim safely back to shore, his companion, a man in his fifties, became caught in the current and was swept away from land.
Without hesitation, Spencer began scanning the waters for any sign of the missing boater. “I was looking around for like 10 minutes and then still nothing, so I went super close to the wall, so I could hear what they were yelling,” he said.
Following the desperate gestures of people on shore, Spencer spotted something in the distance. “It was so tiny. It could have been anything, and it was him,” he said. The speck in the water turned out to be the missing man, who had been carried an entire mile from the coastline by dangerous winds, tides, and currents.
Training proved critical in rescue
Spencer successfully maneuvered the distressed man onto his jet ski and transported him to a waiting Honolulu Fire Department rescue boat. The experience left the young rescuer shaken. “I was scared,” Spencer said. “I was tearing up a little bit when he was on the jet ski. I’ve never experienced something that scary before.”
The teenager credited his father, Tom Allen, a jet ski instructor for Honolulu Ocean Safety, with preparing him for the emergency. “Just like all the things my dad taught me, it really worked when it needed to,” Spencer said. “If I didn’t know that, it could have gone a completely opposite way. It would have been horrible, but knowing how to get him on the ski safely and where to go was really helpful.”
For their courageous actions, Spencer and Akahi received certificates recognizing their heroism during a ceremony at Honolulu Hale.
The rescue hasn’t slowed down Spencer’s ambitions. Currently a member of the U.S. Olympic development team, he continues to pursue his athletic goals. “I want to continue with that, and see where I can go with that,” he said. “Hopefully, the Olympics one day.”
