Kealii J. Akahane

A Bellevue, Washington, police officer saved a 17-year-old from drowning after the boy, wearing a backpack filled with 50 pounds of weights, entered Phantom Lake on June 6, 2022. On duty, Officer Kealii J. Akahane, 51, and his partner, were dispatched to the scene, where, after searching, they saw the boy’s hand under the surface of the water at the end of a pier that jutted into the lake. Fully clothed including wearing boots and a ballistic vest, Akahane climbed over the wooden railing and jumped into the 50-degree water, where he submerged three times before finding the boy in the murky water. He pulled him to the surface and brought him to the pier. Akahane pushed the boy, who was by then unconscious, upward and officers on the pier pulled him from the water, where they performed CPR. The boy was taken to the hospital by ambulance. He recovered. Firefighters assisted Akahane from the water. He was cold and nearly exhausted, but he did not seek medical treatment. He recovered.