The morning of November 24, 2006, Gregg woke with complete joy and went walking with Katie on the expanse of black volcanic rocks in front of our rental house to look at the waves and the tide pools. He rested, sitting on a bluff watching the ocean put on its magnificent display. Then life changed for our family forever, as the pattern of waves freakishly grew, shifted and crashed, knocking Gregg onto the rocks and water below. Katie, without thought for her own safety, jumped into the water to save Gregg. She tried to hold him, only to be battered, separated and nearly drowned.
The fire and police rescue teams arrived rapidly, managing to somehow rescue Katie by dropping a basket from the helicopter. A few moments sooner and perhaps Gregg would be with us, moments later we would have lost Katie as well.
This ocean was not the ocean of idyllic island dreams. It had become a crashing violent thing. Still, these amazing brave men worked to recover the body. They flew helicopters dangerously low into air currents while divers swam in shark infested waters. They stood stationed for hours along the cliffs, charting currents, searching the waters, never giving up until the light failed. They vowed to return, to continue the search for as many days as we wanted. At daybreak of the second day, Gregg's body was spotted among the rocks, but couldn't be reached due to the continuing rough surf. Finally, two divers timed their jump from a helicopter between sets of huge crashing waves and grabbed Gregg's body, lifting it to the air.
Many of the rescue workers openly wept for our family. They expected no thank you, and no reward as they stood stoically at a respectful distance and shared our family's grief. We learned that it was a minor miracle to find bodies at that spot due to the currents and sharks. Yet they had risked their lives in that water for us.
These rescue workers, many of whom are volunteers, truly work exclusively for the benefit of others. They work with outdated equipment and in some cases no equipment at all. We learned that in another incident they had difficulty retrieving a body because they didn't have sufficient funds for proper ropes. We are eternally grateful to these men for giving us a chance at some closure and peace.
There doesn't seem to be a more fitting way to honor Gregg than to offer support to these men. Therefore in lieu of flowers we respectfully request donations to be made to:
Gregg Malkin Memorial Fund
C/O Goldschmid, Silver, & Spindel
3345 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90010
Donna & Glenn
Fed. Tax ID # 99-0261283
Gregg Malkin Memorial Fund under
the Hawaii Community Foundation.