Adventurous 23-Year-Old Drowns in Hawaii Accident

Khang Quang Le was a free spirit. His family said his motto was, “Live for today; tomorrow may never come.”

On Tuesday afternoon, his family gathered at his sister’s apartment in Santa Ana to comfort each other and to talk about the 23-year-old man who lived adventurously, they said, and who paid for that adventure with his life.

An avid surfer, the former Dana Hills High School graduate left Orange County for Hawaii two years ago to be closer to its famous surf, his family said.

On Saturday, divers with the Maui County fire rescue team found Le’s body at the bottom of a 30-foot pool fed by a 60-foot waterfall. An autopsy showed he drowned while trying to make his way down a series of waterfalls in a steep gulch near the Koolau forest reserve, Maui County authorities said. He suffered multiple fractures of his head and hip, cuts to his neck and chin, and a large puncture wound in his neck, they added.

Le was “a very adventurous person,” said his 19-year-old sister, Hong Le. “He worked just to live life,” she recalled of the brother who worked part time at odd jobs to make “enough money to have fun.”

According to authorities, Khang Le had been hiking June 11 with four friends. He apparently was jumping into the pool at the bottom of each waterfall, climbing out and then jumping into the next one, said Maui County Police Officer Brian De Mello.

When a woman in the group was hurt in a fall, De Mello said, Le went for help but didn’t return. The others found their way out and reported Le as missing Wednesday.

Going for help in such a situation was indicative of Le, his family said Tuesday.

“He was so caring,” said his 26-year-old sister, Diane Le. “He didn’t care about himself. He would always put the safety of others first.”

A service for Khang Le will be held at John the Baptist Church in Costa Mesa on Saturday. He will be buried at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Orange.