A vacationing couple stranded for hours with a flat tire on a harmful Hawaii street despatched an enormous “mahalo” – or thanks – to the state parks caretaker who saved the day.
“We will by no means specific simply how grateful we’re for his kindness,” wrote Sheila Kane, 78, in a letter to Hawaii’s Division of Land and Pure Sources this month.
Kane and her husband of 46 years, Dan, have been thanking William “Wade” Latham, a DLNR Division of State Parks Maui caretaker who saved them firm till practically midnight as they awaited a tow truck within the rain.
“I’ve helped lots of vacationers, normally the tow truck’s there in three hours, however this incident, no,” Latham, who has labored with the DLNR for 29 years, instructed USA TODAY.
“They have been an aged couple in the course of nowhere and …I simply felt like I needed to be there for them,” he mentioned.
Harmful street forward
Sheila and Dan Kane visited the Hawaiian Islands in December to look at their grandson graduate from Brigham Younger College-Hawaii.
The Tennessee couple, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, additionally deliberate a Maui go to to a church pal, Sheila Kane instructed USA TODAY.
“Certainly one of my buddies from Tennessee had mentioned, ‘you’ll want to go on the street to Hana, it is lovely and spectacular,’” she mentioned. “Despite the fact that we had three individuals discourage us from going, we thought, ‘we will deal with this.’”
The scenic Hana Freeway has 620 curves and over 50 bridges, in response to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
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“It may be (harmful) when it is raining, there’s lots of curves and it may be jam-packed with vacationers,” Latham mentioned.
An individual the couple met in a gasoline station mentioned he’d by no means been as nervous in his life as he was whereas navigating the slender street, in response to Kane. As a substitute of creating the journey through tour bus as they have been advisable, the couple rented a Camaro convertible.
Issues took a flip as Sheila Kane, who was driving, exited a one-way bridge.
“This minivan got here round and was simply squeezing me over and I assumed, ‘oh my gosh, we will hit this automobile,’” she recalled.
Kane gently pulled over, the minivan drove by, and he or she continued driving a short time – earlier than they realized a tire had torn.
“(Dan) bought behind the wheel as a result of by then I used to be fairly upset, and fewer than 5 minutes away, there was this service space and it was nonetheless gentle out, so Dan pulled in,” Kane mentioned.
In an remoted space with no telephone service – and as they quickly found, no spare tire – the couple grew to become stranded round 5:30 p.m.
“We talked to a few individuals they usually have been good, wished us nicely, however not considered one of them I feel even thought of calling for us,” Kane recalled.
That’s till Latham, who was working close by, got here alongside.
‘A guardian angel’
Latham was taking a break from clearing down timber after a storm in Kaumahina State Wayside Park when he heard the clunk-clunk-clunk of the Kanes rolling in with their disabled car.
Dan Kane approached him for assist, and after confirming there wasn’t a spare, Latham says he traveled 5 miles away to name for a tow.
He drove again and instructed the Kanes somebody needs to be dispatched to them. He returned to work 20 miles away, then checked on the couple round 8 p.m.
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“‘What, you’re nonetheless right here, the tow truck hasn’t come but?’” a stunned Latham instructed them.
As they chatted to move the time, they grew to become “good buddies,” Kane mentioned.
“We discovered a lot about one another’s household and he even invited us to spend the night time at his and his spouse’s home,” she mentioned.
They opted to attend with the automobile till a tow truck got here round 11:30 p.m. In the meantime, an “upbeat” Latham, who’d additionally known as the police, made journeys house to convey the couple meals and water.
“We really feel like he was a guardian angel, he was watching out for us,” Kane mentioned.
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The state parks caretaker reluctantly left the couple round 11 p.m. to arrange for an early morning however urged them to textual content him once they bought assist, which they did.
The rain had triggered a number of accidents that day, which led to the hours-long holdup, the couple discovered from the tow truck driver.
“I am very grateful there are nonetheless individuals on the earth that may go the additional mile,” Kane mentioned of Latham’s kindness. “We have been very blessed to satisfy him.”