1 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,799 Speaker 1: You're listening to Alive Again, a production of Psychopia Pictures 2 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: and iHeart Podcasts. 3 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:20,920 Speaker 2: You always hear the question what would you do if 4 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 2: you had twenty minutes left to live? I found out twice. 5 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:32,920 Speaker 2: My name is Anily's Cochran. I survived a nuclear threat 6 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 2: and a climate disaster, and this is my story. 7 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:46,519 Speaker 1: Welcome to Alive Again, a podcast that showcases miraculous accounts 8 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: of human fragility and resilience from people whose lives were 9 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: forever altered after having almost died. These are first hand 10 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: accounts of near death experiences and more broadly, brushes with death. 11 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: Mission is simple, find, explore, and share these stories to 12 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: remind us all of our shared human condition. Please keep 13 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: in mind these stories are true and maybe triggering for 14 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: some listener, and discretion is advised. 15 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 2: It was the morning of January thirteenth, twenty and eighteen. 16 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 2: I was working on a fleet of boats out in Maui, Hawaii. 17 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,679 Speaker 2: I was the first meet of one of our fleets 18 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 2: of vessels at Pacific Well Foundation. We would take people 19 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 2: out on the water to go on well watching trips, 20 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 2: snorkeling trips, dinner cruises, some set cruises. 21 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 3: We like to do education on our boats to teach. 22 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 2: About the whales and the islands, and I was on 23 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 2: microphone when all of a sudden, this sound went off 24 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 2: throughout the boat, coming out of everyone's cell phones all 25 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 2: at once, kind of sounds like an amber alert. There 26 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 2: was over a hundred of us on this relatively small boat, 27 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 2: so it was quite startling. This woman from the back 28 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:18,839 Speaker 2: of the boat was holding her phone out in front 29 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 2: of her and kind of like just staggering and clutching 30 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 2: the chairs as she came down this walkway towards me. 31 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 2: When she held the phone out and I got a 32 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 2: chance to see it, I realized that the alert that 33 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 2: everybody had gotten was a warning that there was a 34 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 2: nuclear missile coming towards us. 35 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 3: It was a beautiful day. The skies were clear and blue, 36 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 3: the water was. 37 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 2: Calm, and we were all about to die. I went 38 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:54,799 Speaker 2: and spoke to my captain a couple of quick googles. 39 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 2: He was able to sort of piece together the amount 40 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:58,680 Speaker 2: of time. He said it would be less than twenty minutes. 41 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 2: My job as the first mate is to be the 42 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,640 Speaker 2: person that communicates between the captain and the crew. So 43 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 2: the captain makes orders and then I go and I 44 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 2: delegate that out to the crew and decide who should 45 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 2: be executing what task, and in what order those tasks 46 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 2: should go. We quickly came up with the plan me 47 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,959 Speaker 2: and the captain of trying to take our vessel far 48 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:24,919 Speaker 2: away from. 49 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 3: The wind coming from O Wacoo. 50 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:29,679 Speaker 2: We felt like a Wahoo would be the most likely 51 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 2: target of a nuclear missile. We decided to just take 52 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 2: our boat out to see far away from any fallout 53 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 2: and hope for the best. 54 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:39,839 Speaker 3: But we also. 55 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 2: Grabbed life jackets and made nervous people my ties and 56 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 2: called our families and said goodbye, which was really really hard. 57 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 2: You always hear the question what would you do if 58 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 2: you had twenty minutes left to live? Everybody has such 59 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 2: a different reaction to that situation. One of my friends 60 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 2: was a photographer, and he happened to be in the 61 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 2: harbor holding a really nice camera, and so he decided 62 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 2: to set it up to record and built a little 63 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 2: rock structure around it to capture any possible media he could. 64 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 2: He pointed it towards Wahu and hoped that the camera 65 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 2: wouldn't get destroyed. One of my friends cracked a bunch 66 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 2: of bottles of champagne and put them on ice. Another 67 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 2: one of my friends quite literally abandoned one of our 68 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 2: multimillion dollar boats in the harbor. She thought it was 69 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 2: ridiculous to be at work if she had fifteen minutes 70 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 2: left to live, she wanted to be with her dog, 71 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 2: and so she dropped the boat on land. 72 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 3: And ran to her dog. 73 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:51,719 Speaker 2: There was a lot of tension between the United States 74 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 2: and North Korea at the time. That made the threat 75 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 2: of a nuclear missile attack much more believable. You know, 76 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 2: when need to just think about geographically too. It would 77 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 2: be most simple to aim a missile at the point 78 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 2: of the US that's closest to North Korea. 79 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 3: And that would be Hawaii. 80 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 2: I think it was nineteen minutes until they told us 81 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:23,600 Speaker 2: that they had been running a drill that day and 82 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:27,040 Speaker 2: somebody mistook it for a real situation, and so they 83 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:31,480 Speaker 2: had triggered a very real alert. But it was after 84 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,479 Speaker 2: the missile would have impacted that we found out that 85 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 2: it was a false alarm. That afternoon, when we came 86 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 2: back to shore, our beautiful town Leahina was bustling with 87 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 2: people who were joyous to have lived through something. The 88 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 2: Lahina is nestled on one of the south facing shores 89 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:58,719 Speaker 2: of Mali, but it's kind of on the western edge. 90 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 2: It used to be the home of the chiefs of Hawaii, 91 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 2: so it was the heart of the Hawaiian Kingdom for 92 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 2: a really really long period of time, and so it 93 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:10,039 Speaker 2: was kind of a crown jewel. 94 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 3: It was a really really special place. 95 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 2: There's this underlying richness to the culture there, even though 96 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 2: today it presents like a very tourist town with cute 97 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 2: galleries and experiences on the ocean and restaurants by the seat. 98 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 3: People that I've. 99 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 2: Come to know in Lehina are incredibly strong and prideful. 100 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:35,679 Speaker 3: In the best way. 101 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 2: Had moved to an apartment that was right behind Fleetwood's, 102 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 2: which is a bar that's famously owned by Mick Fleetwood 103 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 2: of Fleetwood Mac. It was located right in the center 104 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 2: of Lahaina town on Front Street. 105 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,040 Speaker 3: It was the core of the town. I had lived 106 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:52,840 Speaker 3: in this unit. 107 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 2: That was affordable until it was sold to developers and 108 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:02,840 Speaker 2: they were going to turn it into vacation rentals, which you. 109 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 3: Know, broke our heart. 110 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 2: There's nowhere for the people who work there to live 111 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 2: that can afford it. We were being priced out of paradise. 112 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 2: So it was a very scary time for our unit. 113 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 2: US residents banded together, did media interviews, talk to local 114 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 2: politicians whatever we could. Ultimately, the county ended up buying 115 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 2: the property back from the developers and kept it as 116 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 2: housing for people that needed it. Because of the action 117 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 2: taken by the residents of our unit. I lived with 118 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 2: people who had a deep tie to Lahina and they 119 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,480 Speaker 2: weren't willing to leave. They weren't willing to walk out 120 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 2: of that beautiful place. One of the people that I'm 121 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 2: speaking most fondly of is my next door neighbor, Freeman 122 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 2: Tim Lung. He was an older gentleman who was such 123 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:58,120 Speaker 2: a bright light of a person, and he was always 124 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 2: excited and happy. One of my neighbors, Attina, would just 125 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 2: take him out driving every week to show him Lahina 126 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 2: because he had mobility issues and didn't have a car, 127 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 2: and he was born and raised in Lahina Inna meant 128 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 2: a lot to him. We won the right to stay 129 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 2: in our building right as COVID began to hit the island, 130 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 2: and that was a very devastating time for Mali. Because 131 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 2: we rely heavily on tourism. My company laid off a 132 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 2: lot of employees, as did many other organizations and the 133 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 2: local population began to really feel the effects, and so 134 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 2: coming out of that situation and rebuilding the community, seeing 135 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:43,559 Speaker 2: businesses open again, seeing tourism come back, was a huge weight. 136 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 3: Lifted for many people. 137 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 2: We had made it through his COVID hump, which was remarkable, 138 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 2: and then the worst they hit our town. On August 139 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 2: eighth of twenty twenty three. Early in the morning, I 140 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 2: had woken up to realize that we had no power, 141 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 2: self service was limited. 142 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 3: The weather was stormy. 143 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 2: It was incredibly windy, some of the strongest gusts of 144 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 2: wind I had ever seen. I remember that morning actually 145 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,959 Speaker 2: taking a video outside of my window, thinking, you know, wow, 146 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 2: the wind is never whistled like this, like it's making 147 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 2: this sound. It's almost like there's somebody singing on the wind. 148 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 2: It's so different sounding than any wind I've ever heard before. 149 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 2: There had been a fire that morning up the mountain 150 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 2: from us. Not very long after the fire began, they 151 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 2: had posted one hundred percent contained, everything's fine. Stand down 152 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 2: to all of the fire crews with up the mountain 153 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 2: on the other side of the island to go fight 154 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 2: a fire that was happening there. I was in my 155 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 2: apartment at about three pm or so when I just 156 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 2: kind of noticed the faintest smell of smoke in the air, 157 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:23,440 Speaker 2: just a little tiny hint of it. Freeman, my next 158 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 2: door neighbor, was standing in his doorway as well. 159 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 3: So I asked him. 160 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,240 Speaker 2: I was like, Freeman, do you smell something? And He's like, no, no, no, 161 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:36,680 Speaker 2: I don't smell anything. So I was like, Okay, maybe 162 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 2: I'm just being a little oversensitive. A lot of us 163 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 2: were used to them, like burning the sugar cane fields, 164 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:44,960 Speaker 2: and like the smell of just this burning that's kind 165 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 2: of throughout the town constantly. So I went back inside. 166 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 2: I took a really really quick shower, and then I 167 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,960 Speaker 2: was sitting inside and I heard something I couldn't even 168 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 2: place what it was. It was just like the weirdest sound. 169 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 2: The fact that I could hear anything over the wind 170 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:10,560 Speaker 2: was startling to me, and so I went outside and 171 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 2: I realized that what I was hearing was the personal 172 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 2: fire detectors from all of the houses on my street. 173 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 2: This point, the sky was black, and we realized it 174 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 2: was like a really really bad situation. We started to 175 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 2: actually at that point really strategize about, like what does 176 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 2: evacuation look like? And I remember my neighbor Steve almost 177 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 2: jokingly being like, well, hey, at least we've always got 178 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:47,439 Speaker 2: an ocean. 179 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:48,560 Speaker 3: You can't burn in an ocean. 180 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 2: Right, Embers started to fly over our heads and land 181 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,360 Speaker 2: on the buildings, and he was spraying the embers with 182 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 2: a hose, you know, he would spray one in ten 183 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:01,559 Speaker 2: would fall, and then he would get another one, and 184 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 2: a twenty would fall. And it was becoming this exponential 185 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,320 Speaker 2: problem where it's like, hey man, you can't put all 186 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 2: of these out. 187 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 3: There's no way. 188 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 2: And we're also starting to lose time, and at this 189 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 2: point his wife began to. 190 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 3: Screen that they needed to go. 191 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,720 Speaker 2: I have a video where the sky would go hitch 192 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 2: black and then it would open up for the split 193 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 2: second as the wind would like rush through all the 194 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:27,760 Speaker 2: spoke was clear, and it would be like you'd realized 195 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 2: it was daytime, and then it would just be nighttime again. 196 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:33,840 Speaker 2: As those embers started to burn, we made the call 197 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 2: that we have to go. Freeman didn't want to leave, 198 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:42,720 Speaker 2: and we just kept telling him he had to. 199 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 3: I was trying to get them both to come into 200 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 3: my car. 201 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:52,439 Speaker 2: Freeman, for whatever reason, didn't want to get in, and 202 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:55,719 Speaker 2: Atina said that She wanted to take him down to 203 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 2: Front Street by foot, which was concerning to me, but 204 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 2: also there's so little time to fight people. In a 205 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,560 Speaker 2: moment like that, I saw the like walk away as 206 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 2: like fires kind of like appeared between me and them, 207 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 2: and at that point I lost sight of them. Behind 208 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 2: that wall of fire, I began driving into the most 209 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 2: pitch black I've ever seen. It's not driving through smoke, 210 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:30,679 Speaker 2: it's driving through a solid, opaque wall. I couldn't even 211 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 2: see the hood of my own car. People were driving 212 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,680 Speaker 2: up onto the sidewalks, trying to get around parked cars 213 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:41,200 Speaker 2: or cars that were being hesitant to move forward. With 214 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,959 Speaker 2: winds that one hundred and twenty miles per hour, that 215 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,240 Speaker 2: fire moves at a rate I can't I don't even 216 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 2: have words to express how pickly a fire was running 217 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 2: towards you. 218 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:57,840 Speaker 3: It was monumental. 219 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 2: At one point, a tourist named Naim popped into my 220 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 2: car in a panic and he said, turn and go 221 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 2: up the mountain. 222 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 3: I had to tell him, like, that's where I just 223 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:13,760 Speaker 3: came from. 224 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 2: The fire's coming from that direction, and he's like, well, 225 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 2: I just came from down the road the other direction 226 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 2: from us, and there's fire there too, and as I 227 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:24,280 Speaker 2: was like, I'm not going up the mountain, and so 228 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 2: he got out of my car and he disappeared into 229 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 2: the wall of s Hope. Fortunately, right about that time, 230 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 2: I saw Freeman and Atina making it on foot to 231 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 2: this exact same area, so I jumped out to talk 232 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 2: quickly with Atina and Freeman. We assisted Freeman up and 233 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 2: over this rock wall, which was challenging because of the 234 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 2: dropped out on the other side. At this point, the 235 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 2: wind was as extreme as it had been all night. 236 00:14:54,680 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 2: It was whipping. You have this rain of fire that's 237 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 2: just coming down on your body and burning you, and 238 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 2: you can't avoid it with light. 239 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 3: Your clothes on fire. 240 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,680 Speaker 2: And there was about one hundred people gathered on the coast. 241 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 2: People's hair was catching no fire. There was multiple times 242 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 2: I like shouted down to somebody, like you were on fire. 243 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 2: Some people had already got into the ocean and begun 244 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 2: drifting out to sea. I saw that there's people in 245 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 2: the ocean, but I couldn't even see how far out 246 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 2: people were going to. You just couldn't see that far. 247 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 2: And you're looking through squintid eyes the whole time, and 248 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 2: you're trying to blink constantly, cause your eyes are full 249 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 2: of soot and ash. 250 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 4: And. 251 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:39,880 Speaker 3: It was very hot. 252 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 2: It's hard to describe, like the radiating heat that comes 253 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 2: from an entire town burning down. The ground itself began 254 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 2: to heat up like an oven, and we were sitting 255 00:15:53,640 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 2: on old lava rocks. I was cooking, but I was 256 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 2: very clear headed, and I thought more about, you know, 257 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:06,960 Speaker 2: what it would truly take to survive each moment and 258 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 2: each woe, It being a small decision, not looking at 259 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 2: the big picture, but like what do I do right now? 260 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 2: It was concerned about the quality of the air, so 261 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 2: you just can't breathe in this thick smoke. Additionally to 262 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:24,640 Speaker 2: the smoke, you have this rain of fire that's just 263 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:32,320 Speaker 2: coming down on your body constantly. I knew at that 264 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 2: point that I was going to be out here for 265 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 2: a long time. Before I left my house, I grabbed 266 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 2: everything I could and shoved it into an Ikea bag, 267 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 2: and I grabbed the most important thing, which was my 268 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 2: pet burd After we got a Tina and Freeman over 269 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 2: the wall, I went back to my car to get 270 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 2: out of the smoke and the falling embers, as well 271 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 2: as to spend some final moments with my bird, and 272 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 2: I ultimately fed her what would be her vital meal. 273 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 2: My bird was flightless, and so I knew the safest 274 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:08,479 Speaker 2: place for it would be in my car, and so 275 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:11,680 Speaker 2: I left it behind, closed the door and got into 276 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:20,960 Speaker 2: the ocean. The ember is falling on your skin, just burned, 277 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 2: and so you know the coolness of the water with 278 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:26,160 Speaker 2: a little bit. 279 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:26,640 Speaker 3: Of a comfort. 280 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:31,400 Speaker 2: We didn't want to go too far out because there 281 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 2: was sharks and currents, and it was nighttime. The waves 282 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,880 Speaker 2: are just pushing you around, and Freeman couldn't have kept 283 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,760 Speaker 2: himself up in the surf, and so he stayed on 284 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:50,040 Speaker 2: the rocks. The wind was pushing flaming debris all around us, 285 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:55,159 Speaker 2: while the ocean was being just whipped up by this 286 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:59,399 Speaker 2: intense wind, and all around you could just hear the 287 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:04,840 Speaker 2: scream of people panicked and confused. I heard screams of 288 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:10,040 Speaker 2: terror that were deep and real. Slowly, over the course 289 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:12,960 Speaker 2: of the next hour, so the building that was across 290 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 2: the street from us became completely engulfed in flames. We 291 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,960 Speaker 2: tried not to watch, because it's traumatic to watch the 292 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 2: things you love just disappear in front of you. The 293 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,639 Speaker 2: area that we had been in was a really, really cleat, 294 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,880 Speaker 2: little walking part of town. Throughout the course of the night, 295 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:38,360 Speaker 2: you know, the scenery changed on us dramatically. These buildings 296 00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 2: that were so beautiful, kind of historic, old timey looking buildings. 297 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 3: You see them go up into flames, and then they. 298 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 2: Would just sort of it's hard to describe the way 299 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 2: that they would just kind of collapse in on themselves, 300 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:55,360 Speaker 2: like they gave a big sigh. 301 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 3: And just sort of imploded. It was just so horrifying. 302 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 2: And also, you know, it hurts your eyes the light 303 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 2: and the smoke and everything, and we want to shield 304 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:09,720 Speaker 2: your face from the heat. We all got very badly 305 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:13,920 Speaker 2: burned on our faces from just the heat of everything happening, 306 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 2: but also from our masks rubbing up against our noses. 307 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:20,160 Speaker 2: I would stop throughout the night and kind of peek 308 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:21,720 Speaker 2: my head over the rock wall and just sort of 309 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 2: see how everything was progressing. And I just remember specifically 310 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 2: the building that was across from us. 311 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:27,440 Speaker 3: It went through this. 312 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 2: Evolution where the walls kind of burnt off of it, 313 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 2: but you could see inside and the tables were still 314 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:34,639 Speaker 2: set as if they were going to do dinner service 315 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:36,720 Speaker 2: that night. And then you look away for another moment 316 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 2: and look back and now the building's gone and it's 317 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,199 Speaker 2: just a one foot pile of rubble on the ground. 318 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 2: The biggest threat that we were facing was the smoke. 319 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:52,560 Speaker 2: We were submerging ourselves in the shallowest of the water. 320 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 2: We wanted to be close enough that we felt land 321 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 2: underneath our feet, but we wanted to be far enough 322 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:01,679 Speaker 2: from the fire or that we could breathe, and we 323 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 2: weren't getting hit with the embers as heavily in the water. 324 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 2: Somewhere around seven PM, we began to hear explosions coming 325 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:20,360 Speaker 2: down the road towards us, one after the other after 326 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:24,680 Speaker 2: the other, and there was hundreds of them. We realized 327 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:27,639 Speaker 2: that it was the cars that were parked that were exploding. 328 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,720 Speaker 3: All throughout town. All these people had abandoned their cars. 329 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 2: There's like a hundred of us, all of our vehicles 330 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 2: parked behind our heads. 331 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:42,000 Speaker 3: The ground was beginning to shake with every single explosion. 332 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 2: I was beginning to get very, very fearful, especially because 333 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:52,280 Speaker 2: now we're we're hiding behind this rock wall, and there's 334 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:55,120 Speaker 2: there's a car, you know, two feet on the other 335 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 2: side of that rock wall from us, and the second 336 00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:59,399 Speaker 2: that it explodes, are these rocks going to come tumbling 337 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,919 Speaker 2: down on us. The fumes that come off of a 338 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:10,200 Speaker 2: car explosion are noxious. We could not breathe. You would inhale, 339 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:14,920 Speaker 2: but there was no oxygen. I remember at one point 340 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,120 Speaker 2: looking over to A Tina because I realized like suddenly 341 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:20,680 Speaker 2: I wasn't I wasn't breathing, and I tried to say 342 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,960 Speaker 2: to her, I can't breathe, and I didn't. 343 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:27,560 Speaker 3: Have a voice. 344 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 2: Finally, is able to kind of like whisper to her 345 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 2: like I can't talk, and she said the same thing 346 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:33,159 Speaker 2: back to me. 347 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:34,400 Speaker 3: I heard it in her voice too. 348 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:37,679 Speaker 2: We kind of like gestured to each other like we 349 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 2: should go towards Freeman, and we both stood up and 350 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 2: we walked maybe five feet, and I've I've never felt 351 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:53,920 Speaker 2: such a level of like extreme exhaustion and oxygen deprivation, 352 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:56,440 Speaker 2: and like I'm a free diver. I lived in a 353 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,920 Speaker 2: world of oxygen deprivation. I was used to the thee 354 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,760 Speaker 2: of having a lot of carbon dioxide in your system, 355 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,760 Speaker 2: like that's actually something I had specifically trained for it. 356 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:09,680 Speaker 3: And I couldn't walk one more step. 357 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 2: I walked about five feet and I quite literally collapsed 358 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:15,199 Speaker 2: on the ground. A Tina did as well, and I 359 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,120 Speaker 2: was like I can't get to him, and she said 360 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:18,720 Speaker 2: I can't either. 361 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 3: We were in the surf. 362 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:24,360 Speaker 2: There was moments where we were holding each other's hands, 363 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 2: and sometimes we would just squeeze each other's hands to 364 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:30,439 Speaker 2: let each other know that we were there because we 365 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 2: would lose consciousness. I just remember kind of trying to 366 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:36,239 Speaker 2: like like whisper talk. Every once in a while. It 367 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:40,640 Speaker 2: was like, just keep breathing, stay awake. And there's times 368 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 2: I saw her drifting away and I would pull her bag. 369 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 2: And there's times I was dripped away and she pulled 370 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 2: me back. It was close to dying, and in that 371 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:57,280 Speaker 2: moment everything got quiet. All of the explosions sounded like 372 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:02,359 Speaker 2: popping popcorn and it was just like pop pop pop, 373 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:08,320 Speaker 2: and it felt like I could just go to sleep 374 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:15,639 Speaker 2: and everything would just be okay. I had a vision 375 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:20,960 Speaker 2: of multiple bright, bright blue lights that were just dancing 376 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 2: around my field of vision. I'm not a super religious person, 377 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:31,560 Speaker 2: but I just feel like I had loving arms around 378 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:35,160 Speaker 2: me that night. I think that's what I was seeing 379 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,960 Speaker 2: in that moment, like the souls of the people that 380 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 2: were protecting me. I fell unconscious while I was belly 381 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,199 Speaker 2: down in the water, and my head would collapse and 382 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 2: my lips would hit the surface of the water, and 383 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:53,439 Speaker 2: that feeling of water on my lips would jolt me 384 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 2: back to alertness, and I would remember, like I have 385 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:56,960 Speaker 2: to keep breathing, Like if you put your head down, 386 00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:57,640 Speaker 2: you're gonna drown. 387 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,840 Speaker 3: I'm so grateful to the ocean itself when there was 388 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 3: a fire on three sides of us to be this 389 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 3: like open. 390 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 2: Arms of comfort, and for that moment of like, as 391 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 2: I was quite literally losing my own life, it was 392 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 2: going to be my reminder to keep breathing. The wind 393 00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:24,240 Speaker 2: was still just bearing down on us the whole night, 394 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 2: and it blew some of that, like those most horrible 395 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 2: fumes away. Suddenly I could talk again. I looked at 396 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:33,879 Speaker 2: a teen and I was like, hey, we're here, and 397 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:36,360 Speaker 2: I remember her looking at me. She goes, you are shaking. 398 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 2: I was extremely hypothermic from just laying motionless in the 399 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:47,360 Speaker 2: water for as long as I had been. I had 400 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:49,680 Speaker 2: to warm up my body, and so I actually ended 401 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:50,680 Speaker 2: up climbing back. 402 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:52,880 Speaker 3: Up over the rock wall and. 403 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:58,760 Speaker 2: Huddled down like near the the embers of Waikiki Brewery 404 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 2: as it was like finished. She gets burned down to 405 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 2: the ground just to get some warmth from the fire. 406 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,159 Speaker 2: I burned myself badly doing that, but but it was 407 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:15,439 Speaker 2: the only way to stay warm. Once I had regained 408 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 2: my senses, I shouted to a teena that I wanted 409 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 2: to check on Freeman. We both started making our way 410 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:24,000 Speaker 2: towards him, she on the rocks and me on the road. 411 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 2: And I made it to him first, and I found 412 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 2: that he had passed away, and there was just nothing 413 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 2: I could do, and I had to resign myself to say, like, 414 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:36,560 Speaker 2: I can't. 415 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 3: I can't do anything for him, it's too late. 416 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:43,200 Speaker 2: Back when we were fighting for the right to stay 417 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,680 Speaker 2: in Lahina as residents, Freeman had spoken to a news 418 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:50,880 Speaker 2: outlet and was quoted saying I was born in Lehina 419 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:56,240 Speaker 2: and I will die in Lahina. Lohina was so important 420 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:00,720 Speaker 2: to Freeman, and Freeman was so important to Leahina that 421 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 2: I'm glad that Freeman never had to see Lahina gone. 422 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:11,480 Speaker 2: At about nine or nine thirty PM, and I was 423 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,919 Speaker 2: able to finally make a call out to the police 424 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,160 Speaker 2: and say that we needed to rescue. They were able 425 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 2: to confirm that they knew we were there. Other people 426 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:23,440 Speaker 2: had called in already and said that we were there, 427 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 2: but that they didn't honestly know how to rescue us 428 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:31,160 Speaker 2: at that moment. The situation was obviously a tough one. 429 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:33,440 Speaker 2: They couldn't get their rescue vehicles to where we were 430 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,240 Speaker 2: because of just all the debris in the road down lines, 431 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,199 Speaker 2: the town was still on fire. Everything was making it 432 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:42,480 Speaker 2: hard to rescue, and they didn't know when they could 433 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:46,800 Speaker 2: help us. I remember telling Atina, like, we don't need 434 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:49,520 Speaker 2: to eat tonight. It's okay, It'll be fine. We can 435 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:51,840 Speaker 2: survive this. We have the fire and embers to keep 436 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,080 Speaker 2: us warm. We have the ocean to keep us cool, like, 437 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:54,960 Speaker 2: we'll live through this. 438 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:55,240 Speaker 4: Now. 439 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,879 Speaker 2: Rescue didn't come for us until after midnight. Are all 440 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 2: to bit Rescue was well later. We had quite a 441 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:07,639 Speaker 2: prolonged period of time just kind of waiting after the 442 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:12,399 Speaker 2: fire was out, which was a surreal experience. I began 443 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:15,560 Speaker 2: to sort of wander around the street and see some 444 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 2: of the destruction, things like all of the rims of 445 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:23,119 Speaker 2: all the cars. The aluminum wheels were melted to the ground, 446 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 2: and you would just see these streams of melted silver 447 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:28,680 Speaker 2: metal running through the streets. 448 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:30,680 Speaker 3: It was remarkably quiet. 449 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:34,399 Speaker 2: I think there was a lot of people around, but 450 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,000 Speaker 2: nobody was really talking to each other. We were all 451 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 2: sort of just quietly taking it all in and moving 452 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:41,520 Speaker 2: around the scene, just kind of looking at all these 453 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,320 Speaker 2: things that suddenly looked so different than they had just 454 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:45,439 Speaker 2: a couple of hours earlier. 455 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 3: There was fire on all sides. 456 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,600 Speaker 2: Since it was like a whole two blocks away, at 457 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,880 Speaker 2: that point, it felt much less threatening than it had 458 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:56,320 Speaker 2: all night, and I was like, oh, I'm safe to 459 00:27:56,359 --> 00:28:01,359 Speaker 2: take a nap now, which is wild in retrospect. I 460 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:02,919 Speaker 2: laid down the sidewalk and I took about a ten 461 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:05,760 Speaker 2: minute nap, and then the fire trucks came back to 462 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:12,720 Speaker 2: rescue us. At that first shelter that I was at, 463 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,679 Speaker 2: there was a heavy focus on like figuring out the 464 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:20,680 Speaker 2: medical needs. My injuries that I sustained included mostly burns. 465 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:25,320 Speaker 2: I burned my rear end very badly from sitting on 466 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:28,359 Speaker 2: the rocks. I have very significant scarring on my legs. 467 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:30,359 Speaker 2: I have a lot of cuts from being bashed against 468 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:33,119 Speaker 2: the rocks all night. All of the scars on my 469 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,000 Speaker 2: left hand side of my body are much much worse 470 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 2: than the right hand side because that's the side that 471 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 2: the wind was coming at us from. I had ash 472 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 2: coming out of my ears and my nose and my 473 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:48,640 Speaker 2: eyes everything for a remarkably long time. For the first 474 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 2: few days, there was no cell phone signal over there, 475 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 2: so nobody could contact family tell. 476 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 3: Them that they were safe. 477 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 2: We got to see some beautiful moments, like families reconnecting, 478 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:02,560 Speaker 2: the tears of parents finding their children out of shelter. 479 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,320 Speaker 2: There's no words, There are no words to describe the 480 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:11,520 Speaker 2: amount of love and emotion in that moment of reconnection. 481 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:13,560 Speaker 3: I saw that playing out multiple times. 482 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:19,320 Speaker 2: Daily, and also tragic loss boards of names getting bigger 483 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:21,320 Speaker 2: every day with all the people looking for their family. 484 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:27,880 Speaker 2: These events are escalating in quantity and severity over time, and. 485 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 3: That's a factor of climate change. 486 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 2: It's something that we've been told about since I was 487 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,280 Speaker 2: a child, that this was coming, this was the real threat. 488 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 2: I remember as a child being told that, you know, 489 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,280 Speaker 2: in fifteen, in twenty years, we're going to start seeing 490 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:41,360 Speaker 2: these effects, and like surprise, everybody, we're here. 491 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 3: It's that time. And the storms will continue to get worse. 492 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,160 Speaker 2: The wind will blow more, there will be more dry grass, 493 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:50,600 Speaker 2: there will be more lightning, there will be more things 494 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:54,239 Speaker 2: that will cause disasters, whether that's fire or not. But 495 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:56,800 Speaker 2: fire is going to be a big threat coming into 496 00:29:56,840 --> 00:30:01,480 Speaker 2: all of our futures. It's too late for us to 497 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 2: begin the small version of recovery from this. The only 498 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 2: way that I personally see us protecting ourselves from this 499 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:13,320 Speaker 2: happening to everybody everywhere, all the time is starting on 500 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:19,680 Speaker 2: really large scale changes immediately, and that means governments and 501 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 2: large corporations taking some accountability around what's happening with our climate. 502 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:29,880 Speaker 2: You have a warning now this can be your town too. 503 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 2: We hear about fires everywhere Texas, California, Canada, like everywhere 504 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:38,880 Speaker 2: there's fires. Nobody deserves to live through what the people 505 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,880 Speaker 2: of Lahina have lived through, and nobody deserves to lose 506 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:46,480 Speaker 2: what everyone there has lost. I find a lot of 507 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:50,680 Speaker 2: hope still following this fire, but it's kind of a 508 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 2: yin and yang experience for me. I will say I 509 00:30:54,320 --> 00:31:00,440 Speaker 2: have a lot of hope in being alive. I'm grateful 510 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:05,920 Speaker 2: for an opportunity to continue my journey. I didn't think 511 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:07,680 Speaker 2: I was going to have that chance, and I had 512 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:12,920 Speaker 2: resigned myself to that. To have a second shot at things. 513 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 3: Brings a level of clarity to your life. 514 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 2: I'm hopeful that for me personally, you know there will 515 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 2: still be a brighter tomorrow. Unfortunately that's still tomorrow. I'm 516 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:28,280 Speaker 2: still getting through it. 517 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,800 Speaker 1: Welcome back. This is a Live again joining me for 518 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:00,840 Speaker 1: a conversation about today's story or my other Alive against story. 519 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,960 Speaker 1: Producers Kate Sweeney, Nicholas Takowski, and Brent Dye, and I'm 520 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:06,480 Speaker 1: your host, Dan Bush. 521 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,880 Speaker 5: One thing that really struck me about this story from 522 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:12,800 Speaker 5: start to finish is her level of storytelling detail in 523 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 5: every single one of these incidents. And I'm wondering if 524 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 5: that's something that struck you as you were talking with her. 525 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 6: Yeah, what a great storyteller. And the love that she 526 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:24,520 Speaker 6: had for Lahina. You know this her love for the 527 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:26,960 Speaker 6: place of Freeman's love for the place. 528 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:27,479 Speaker 2: You know. 529 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,960 Speaker 6: It was a heartbreaking story. 530 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:33,959 Speaker 1: And she talked about at the end there I hear 531 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:38,160 Speaker 1: her telling stories about people reuniting and having these precious 532 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,480 Speaker 1: moments of reconnecting and finding their loved ones, and all 533 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:46,600 Speaker 1: the tragedy of those who didn't and will never does 534 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:51,600 Speaker 1: she talk about did she talk about people's hope or resilience? Like, 535 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: did she talk much about that? 536 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,640 Speaker 6: I don't think there was time for her to have hope. 537 00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:00,800 Speaker 6: I think it was such a constant mirage of horror 538 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 6: that they were surviving minute to minute. 539 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: I think I told you guys once. I was on 540 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:12,360 Speaker 1: a documentary assignment in the island of Samata in Indonesia 541 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:15,440 Speaker 1: after the tsunami hit, and it hit in Christmas two 542 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:18,280 Speaker 1: thousand and four, so I was there shortly like in 543 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,800 Speaker 1: February two thousand and five, and there were mass graves, 544 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:27,560 Speaker 1: you know, from this horrific tsudami event, and I witnessed those, 545 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:30,960 Speaker 1: and I witnessed towns that had had eighty percent of 546 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:35,960 Speaker 1: their persons wiped out, so you got twenty percent of 547 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: the town left and just complete devastation. And in these 548 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: Indonesian people, I saw still the capacity to smile and 549 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:46,240 Speaker 1: laugh and comfort each other. And it just struck me, 550 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:49,760 Speaker 1: I'll never be the same. I couldn't understand how you 551 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:53,800 Speaker 1: could have lost your eighty percent of your village, you know, 552 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:56,800 Speaker 1: and had your entire village wiped out. The only thing 553 00:33:56,840 --> 00:33:59,960 Speaker 1: still standing was the mosques because they were open air, 554 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:02,600 Speaker 1: so the water could move through them freely without knocking 555 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: them over. But they could. They still had this sense 556 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:11,800 Speaker 1: of laughter, and they were still living. They still had life, 557 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:12,399 Speaker 1: she said. 558 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,120 Speaker 6: One of the benefits of it being in Hawaii as 559 00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:16,800 Speaker 6: there was this great Hawaiian music. People would be playing 560 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:21,279 Speaker 6: guitars and singing songs, and so there was a lot 561 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:25,160 Speaker 6: of life in that recovery period for her, for sure. 562 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:27,399 Speaker 6: But then she's lost her livelihood. She's had to move 563 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 6: back to Washington, d C. 564 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:30,400 Speaker 3: You know. 565 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,440 Speaker 6: Another part of the story was they went through COVID 566 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,600 Speaker 6: and were out of work for two years and their 567 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:40,399 Speaker 6: community was finally coming back together when this hit and 568 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:43,080 Speaker 6: just kind of destroyed it. And she also talked about 569 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 6: how much she loved the sea and wanted to be 570 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:47,959 Speaker 6: out there by the ocean, and it's been taken away 571 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:48,319 Speaker 6: from her. 572 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,400 Speaker 1: But yeah, this is I think probably going to be 573 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:55,760 Speaker 1: one of many horrific cautionary tales that we're gonna continue 574 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:56,920 Speaker 1: to hear about, and that. 575 00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:01,279 Speaker 5: Sort of the theme running throughout about humanity's ability to 576 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:04,160 Speaker 5: just really f things up. I mean, because you hear 577 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:09,120 Speaker 5: the first story that she tells about the nuclear test. 578 00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:10,160 Speaker 3: I remember that. 579 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:15,200 Speaker 5: I remember hearing about that, and it's just so awful. 580 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:17,840 Speaker 5: You know, she has the image of the woman stumbling 581 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:22,560 Speaker 5: toward her on the boat, just everybody believing they have 582 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:27,240 Speaker 5: less than twenty minutes to live, making everybody my ties 583 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:31,520 Speaker 5: and like everybody's calling their families, and then you know 584 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:34,919 Speaker 5: they head for home, and then you hear we're going 585 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:37,480 Speaker 5: back to bustling Leahina, And somewhere in the back of 586 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:40,120 Speaker 5: my head, I thought, oh no, because you know, as 587 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:44,759 Speaker 5: a listener, what's coming next, if you're familiar with these stories. 588 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:48,080 Speaker 6: Current events, Well, just that whole surreal opening to her 589 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:52,399 Speaker 6: story being out there on the whale watching expedition when 590 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:56,279 Speaker 6: they get this text that nuclear annihilation is coming your way. 591 00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:58,520 Speaker 6: You have twenty minutes, and their thought was, well, maybe 592 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:00,800 Speaker 6: we can boat out of the fall zone. And I'm like, 593 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,960 Speaker 6: there is no And I just think that's a threat 594 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:07,600 Speaker 6: that we kind of forgotten about. But it's very real. 595 00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:12,680 Speaker 6: You know, nuclear proliferation and annihilation is never went away 596 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:13,800 Speaker 6: as a worldwide threat. 597 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:14,959 Speaker 1: You know, it's worse. 598 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:15,920 Speaker 6: It's godden worse. 599 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:18,319 Speaker 5: And you know, like as somebody else said in her story, like, 600 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:20,840 Speaker 5: and I think about this a lot. I'm sure a 601 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 5: lot of us do in this room as writers, as 602 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:25,880 Speaker 5: we experience the world through our five senses, right, Like 603 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:28,640 Speaker 5: that's and so that's the way we convey our world 604 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:29,280 Speaker 5: to others. 605 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:32,879 Speaker 3: And God, I mean in so many places she does that. 606 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:33,960 Speaker 3: She talks about how. 607 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:37,279 Speaker 5: She was watching the evolution of the building falling down, 608 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,480 Speaker 5: and first the wall disappears and you could see the 609 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 5: interior and these sort of perfectly set tables and then 610 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:48,120 Speaker 5: you look up again and it's sort of twisted metal. Anyway, 611 00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:50,920 Speaker 5: It's it's these it's these details, these sensory details of 612 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:54,040 Speaker 5: the heat, all of it that makes the. 613 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,760 Speaker 6: Story so affecting, Like sitting this side of my face 614 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:01,040 Speaker 6: was burned because that's where the wind was coming from. 615 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:03,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, and the sounds of the exploding cars getting closer 616 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:06,560 Speaker 1: and closer. It's just she she captured these sort of 617 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:10,359 Speaker 1: in between moments were the last still living thing is 618 00:37:10,719 --> 00:37:12,920 Speaker 1: still being there live and you're watching it burn. 619 00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:16,200 Speaker 5: Right right, And you know, if she wasn't sort of 620 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,360 Speaker 5: I guess I, you know, straight up convert about climate 621 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:22,200 Speaker 5: change and it sounds like she, you know, was aware 622 00:37:22,239 --> 00:37:26,239 Speaker 5: of that and before, but you know, of course she 623 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:28,600 Speaker 5: is now. And it just sort of made made me 624 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:31,680 Speaker 5: think about how hearing stories like hers, or experiencing this 625 00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:35,879 Speaker 5: oneself is the only way, it's the only thing that's 626 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:36,920 Speaker 5: really going to change people. 627 00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:39,800 Speaker 6: I just don't know why it has to be something 628 00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:42,560 Speaker 6: you experience firsthand to understand the threat of it, and 629 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:45,480 Speaker 6: I and and my reaction to hearing about it, even 630 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:47,439 Speaker 6: before I spoke with Analyse, was when I heard about 631 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:49,400 Speaker 6: what happened in the Heina, I thought, if a foreign 632 00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:51,920 Speaker 6: nation had done this to us, we would go to 633 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:54,640 Speaker 6: war with them immediately. But we're not going to war 634 00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:55,800 Speaker 6: against climate change. 635 00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:58,840 Speaker 7: I mean, I mean it's because we it's because we 636 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:03,040 Speaker 7: live in this like corporate hellscape, and it's less about 637 00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:07,800 Speaker 7: fixing things for humanity and more about like increasing profit margins. 638 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,400 Speaker 7: And it's just like for the oil companies, it's just 639 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:15,080 Speaker 7: it's just cheaper to keep you know, pumping oil out 640 00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:18,960 Speaker 7: of the earth, burning it and like raising the cost 641 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:23,319 Speaker 7: of gas, you know, and then spending a chunk of 642 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:27,520 Speaker 7: your profits on lobbying, you know, Congress. 643 00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:31,000 Speaker 1: I think about the biodiversity that's already been lost. We're 644 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:32,560 Speaker 1: in the middle of a mass extinction right now that 645 00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:35,880 Speaker 1: nobody wants to talk about. And I think about that. 646 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:38,400 Speaker 1: And it's not just the loss of you know, an 647 00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:42,799 Speaker 1: accelerated number of species per year, like one hundredfold, but 648 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:46,360 Speaker 1: those species like we're just now starting to understand, you know, 649 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:50,799 Speaker 1: genetics and DNA and the information there. There's so much 650 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:55,040 Speaker 1: adaptive information from millions and millions and years of adaptation 651 00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:57,040 Speaker 1: in each one of these species, in each one of 652 00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:57,719 Speaker 1: these creatures. 653 00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:00,479 Speaker 6: Yeah, everything else a library that's taken millions of years 654 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:04,960 Speaker 6: to write each book, Each piece of DNA has taken 655 00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:07,759 Speaker 6: hundreds of millions of years to re and we're destroying it. 656 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:13,040 Speaker 1: She's just there's this resilience that humans are capable of, 657 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,920 Speaker 1: and you know, anytime I come across it, it's inspiring. 658 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:20,880 Speaker 1: So people who otherwise maybe didn't know they had it 659 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:22,239 Speaker 1: in them, and then all of a sudden they do, 660 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:25,120 Speaker 1: and it gives me some hope. 661 00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:30,800 Speaker 7: For sure. There's nothing more sobering than the consequences of 662 00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:31,680 Speaker 7: our actions. 663 00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:33,279 Speaker 3: That's like. 664 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:39,960 Speaker 1: Next time on Alive Again, we hear the story of 665 00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:43,960 Speaker 1: Kathy Preston, a Holocaust survivor who escaped the Nazis and hungry. 666 00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:47,239 Speaker 1: She lived to become an educator, telling her truth to 667 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:49,800 Speaker 1: thousands of children in the hopes that they move forward 668 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:51,280 Speaker 1: and vigilance and kindness. 669 00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:55,279 Speaker 4: And they kept coming closer and closer, and they were 670 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,720 Speaker 4: using their bayonets to rifle through the hay and stab 671 00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:02,160 Speaker 4: the hay. They got closer and closer, and then I 672 00:40:02,239 --> 00:40:04,439 Speaker 4: hear a thump, and I open an eye and there's 673 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:07,000 Speaker 4: a big black boot next to my face and the 674 00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:11,040 Speaker 4: bayonet comes down one inch from this cheek, and. 675 00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:12,240 Speaker 3: Then he pulls it out. 676 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:14,839 Speaker 4: I still remember the noise it made as it came 677 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:17,080 Speaker 4: out of the wood, and I think that's when I 678 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:20,520 Speaker 4: realized what it means to die. I'm not a victim. 679 00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:23,960 Speaker 4: I'm a survivor, and I'm going to fight for this 680 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,400 Speaker 4: until I stopped talking, because I don't believe that we 681 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:30,520 Speaker 4: have to give up to evil. The only way we 682 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:32,480 Speaker 4: can fight it is to resist it. 683 00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:39,239 Speaker 1: Our story producers are Dan Bush, Kate Sweeney, Brentdye, Nicholas Dakoski, 684 00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:43,440 Speaker 1: and Lauren Vogelba music by Ben Lovin, additional music by 685 00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:47,759 Speaker 1: Alexander Rodriguez. Our executive producers are Matthew Frederick and Trevor Young. 686 00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:52,040 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Alexander Williams for additional production support. Our 687 00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:56,560 Speaker 1: studio engineers are Rima Elkali and Nams Griffin. Our editors 688 00:40:56,560 --> 00:41:00,680 Speaker 1: are Dan Bush, Gerhart Slovitchca, Brit Dye, and Alexander Rodriguez. 689 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:04,399 Speaker 1: Mixing by Ben Lovet and Alexander Rodriguez. I'm your host, 690 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:08,360 Speaker 1: Dan Bush. Thanks to Analie Cochran for sharing her story. 691 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:13,120 Speaker 1: Alive Again is a production of iHeartRadio and Psychopia Pictures. 692 00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:16,560 Speaker 1: If you have a transformative near death experience to share, 693 00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:19,960 Speaker 1: we'd love to hear your story. Please email us at 694 00:41:20,239 --> 00:41:24,440 Speaker 1: Alive Again Project at gmail dot com. That's a l 695 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:27,480 Speaker 1: i v e A g A I N P R 696 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:37,400 Speaker 1: O j e C T at gmail dot com.