Three who rescued boys from drowning praised

The Department of Public Safety yesterday commended the three men who rescued two boys from drowning at the beach near Hyatt Regency Hotel in Garapan.

DPS spokesman Ken Concepcion said it was a “job well done” by the rescuers—Ronald Chisato, Ono Harumitsu, and Lito Lumbana.

Chisato and Harumitsu were the ones who jumped into the water and picked up the two boys, who were already unconscious. Harumitsu and Lumbana applied CPR that caused the victims to vomit water.

Harumitsu is the manager of Windsurfing Saipan Inc., while Chisato is the company’s instructor. Lumbana was at the beach with his family.

Concepcion said that, according to a police report, an attending doctor at the Commonwealth Health Center’s emergency room had the boys admitted for further treatment and observation overnight.

The police’s preliminary investigation showed that, while the children’s mother was unloading some picnic items to the beach Saturday morning, her three underaged sons ran toward the beach.

The mother said she did not see what really happened. When she got to the beachside, she saw one of her sons being carried out of the water by an individual.

The third son, who was the one who shouted for help, told her mother that when they got close to the waters, they saw a big fish.

The three boys jumped into the water to catch the fish. That’s when big waves came and pounded them. Only the third boy managed to run to the shore and scream for help.
Witnesses told Saipan Tribune that the three children proceeded to the sandbar area, where it was deeper on the inside portion. It was high tide at that time.
The third boy, who was near the shoreline, noticed that his brothers were drowning when they landed in the deep portion. He then shouted, “My brothers! My brothers! Help! Help!”
Harumitsu and Chisato swam to the water and picked up the two boys, who were three feet away from each other. The two boys, already unconscious, were about five feet away from the sandbar when the rescuers grabbed them.
While they were still in the water, Harumitsu immediately applied CPR on the youngest boy. Chisato, on the other hand, brought the oldest boy to the shore where he placed him sideways. Waters then started coming out from the boy’s mouth. A Filipino man, later identified as Lumbana, applied CPR on the boy.
The two victims started breathing. Medics arrived and transported them to CHC.