Rescue of Titus Kinimaka by Michael Willis at Waimea Bay … A Christmas miracle

The Titus Kiminaka Rescue

On Oahu’s North Shore, where winter swells transform the Pacific into a proving ground of human courage, surfing is more than recreation-it is a test of will against nature at its most unforgiving. The Titus Kinimaka rescue would bind the Hawaiian waterman with surfer-rescuer Michael Willis in a moment of shared fate. On one fateful Christmas morning at Waimea Bay, that test became a life-or-death struggle that would produce one of the most extraordinary rescues in surfing history.

The Eddie Aikau big wave contest was building toward what promised to be a legendary day. By early morning, elite surfers from around the world filled the lineup, each waiting for their moment. Among them, Titus Kinimaka stood apart. With fearless precision, he dominated wave after wave, riding a 10’8” Willis Bros. gun and pushing deeper, later, and more dangerously into massive sets that no one else would even attempt.

But Waimea does not reward ambition without consequence.

As the swell intensified and conditions shifted, the waves began to detonate with greater violence. Then came the moment that would change everything. Kinimaka committed to a towering wave—dropping late, nearly freefalling before engaging the face. For an instant, it seemed like a triumph. Then the ocean struck back.

A collapsing wall of water drove him down with catastrophic force, snapping his femur and leaving his leg grotesquely displaced. Disoriented and in unimaginable pain, he surfaced screaming in heightened agony —his body broken, his life hanging by seconds.

What happened next defines the highest ideals of human bravery.

Michael Willis, already paddling back into the chaos, witnessed the wipeout from close range. He did not hesitate. With waves still detonating at over 20 feet and two massive tiger sharks were witnessed circling the area, Willis turned immediately toward danger. There was no pause, no calculation—only action.

Before Kinimaka could slip back beneath the surface, Willis along with a young Australian surfer Carl Palmer reached him just in time.

In conditions that would force most to retreat, Willis placed himself directly in harm’s way, stabilizing the critically injured surfer in open ocean under relentless surf. He fought not just the waves, but time, shock, and the ever-present threat beneath the water.

Recognizing the severity, Willis called in fellow surfers—Milton Willis, Thierry Vieilledent and Robbie Page. Others who later responded without hesitation were Louie Ferreira, Darrick Doerner and Ken Bradshaw.

Together, they formed a human raft, a floating shield against chaos. This was not organized rescue—it was instinct, experience, and courage converging in real time.

Kinimaka’s teeth began chattering as his eyes started to roll upward, his body was failing, he was drifting into shock, Michael Willis did something profoundly simple and profoundly heroic: he held him Titus chest to chest, heart to heart using his own body heat to keep Kinimaka alive, speaking to him, grounding him, refusing to let him slip away.

In a violent ocean filled with danger, Willis became a point of calm, control, and survival.

For 45 long minutes—an eternity under those conditions—they held the line until a helicopter could arrive airlifting Kinimaka out of danger directly to the hospital.

The Aftermath

Months later, he would stand at Michael Willis’s door, alive because someone chose not to turn away.

The Titus Kinimaka rescue by Michael Willis is more than a dramatic moment in surfing—it is a benchmark of human courage. It stands alongside the greatest acts of lifesaving not because of recognition or awards, but because of what it represents: the unbreakable responsibility people can feel for one another, even in the face of overwhelming danger.

Michael Willis was never formally recognized by the city for that day. But history does not rely on ceremonies to define greatness. It is defined by actions—by those who move toward danger when others must retreat.

More than three decades later, Titus Kinimaka lives, healed and thriving with his family on Kauai. Michael C. Willis continues to promote Thinkwaves.org ocean safety worldwide, carrying forward the same commitment that saved a life in the waters of Waimea Bay.

This was not just a rescue. It was a reminder—of courage, of sacrifice, and of what is possible when human beings refuse to let each other fall.

Read more about the Titus Kiminaka rescue by Michael Willis in 100 FOOT WAVE the Official Book.