MEDIA RELEASE

A 22-year-old California man died Monday after being swept into the ocean in Puna on Sunday.

The victim has been identified as Paul Tam-Mai of Sunnyvale, California.

Tam-Mai was climbing on a rocky cliff at the end of Paradise Drive in the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision around 3 p.m. Sunday (July 10) when a wave knocked him into the ocean and carried him about 100 yards out to sea. Fire rescue personnel found him face down in the water, retrieved him from the ocean and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

He was taken to Hilo Medical Center and then transferred to The Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu. He was pronounced dead at 9 p.m. Monday (July 11).

The case has been classified as a public accident.