Dozens of discarded needles scattered on Kauai shore discovered by comedian
By Lei Kaholokula
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KAPA’A, Hawai’i (KITV) — “I jumped onto the sand. The beach. And I could see one needle, two needle, three needle, four. And the more I look, the more I seen.”
What started as a normal walk along a Kapa’a shoreline Monday evening quickly turned into something much more alarming for local Kaua’i comedian Zavier Cummings.
Just off the popularly known Kealia Bike path, near the Kapa’a swimming pool, were dozens of discarded needles spread across the shore.
“There had to be at least 35, 40 needles,” said Cummings. “And I’m talking like the stretch of the beach that I was filming was only 15 feet. In the video you can see there’s bunches. There’s clusters of like seven or eight needles.”
Cummings quickly documented the discovery showing social media the disturbing find.
“There was all types and sizes of the needles. When I tell you — had some of the sizes of the syringes… Looked like you could fit about one cup of water inside. Down to the real thin kind,” recalled Cummings.
The area where the needles were found may not be a spot for swimming, but it’s far from empty.
“It’s not a beach that you would be bringing your kids to,” said Cummings. “But I tell you one thing, I see people fishing over there all the time. So aunties and uncles always park, literally where they’re parking on the side of the road, is where I found them needles.”
No proper equipment to safely discard them meant they had to stay there another day.
But when Cummings returned the next day, he said it was a different scene.
“By the time I went back with the proper gear, somebody had cleaned them out already. And they swept that place because there were even the little caps that you put on the needle part… even that was clear,” said Cummings.
Even though the clean-up brought some relief, Cummings said he’s still worried about what could be hiding beneath the sand.
“When you go beach, you tell me I got to start wearing boots to the beach?” said a stunned Cummings. “But now it’s like, I don’t ever wanna go over there. I don’t know if it’s in the water. I don’t know… I just don’t know.”
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