HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Aikau Ohana has set up a GoFundMe fundraiser for Clyde Aikau.
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The page is asking for donations that will go toward Aikau’s medical bills from a recent incident.
According to the GoFundMe page, Aikau was on a business trip to Las Vegas at a Hawaii convention at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino.
After he was finished and left a restaurant, Aikau collapsed.
“After being taken to the hospital they found an aneurysm in his aortic valve. A blessing in disguise that they caught it, but that discovery led to an Emergency Open Heart Surgery.” Aikau Ohana
Clyde Aikau is 73 years old today and is currently recovering in a Las Vegas hospital stated on the GoFundMe page.
The goal of this fundraiser is to reach $200,000 for bills and so far with the page only being up for two days, the community has donated up to over $21,000.
The Aikau Ohana is known throughout the local community and around the world.
Eddie Aikau, older brother of Clyde Aikau, was known as the ultimate Hawaiian waterman.
Among being the first lifeguard at Waimea Bay where he saved over 500 people, Eddie was known as an exceptional surfer who won the 1977 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship and eventually had a competition named in his honor.
There have been nine competitions in Eddie’s name and this year Clyde Aikau and the Aikau ohana held the 2023 Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational where thousands of people attended.
The most recent Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational winner, Luke Shepardson, contributed to this GoFundMe fundraiser.
The creator of this fundraiser ended the plea for help with, “anything helps.”
Click here to go to the GoFundMe page.
