This morning on the way to school, junior Christian Eaton saved two lost dogs stranded in the middle of Pali Highway near the HBA high school campus.

Thanks to him and HBA Student Services, both dogs were returned safely to their owner, Nuuanu area resident Mary Walston.

According to Walston, she was walking her dogs—Kuuipo and Kahuna—at Nuuanu Valley Park around 7:00 a.m. when they ran away as she was adjusting their leashes. Walston, who recently moved to Hawaii from Malibu, California, thinks the three-month Hawaii quarantine that her dogs just came out of could have contributed to their unpredictable behavior today.

Eaton was walking to school from the bus stop when he spotted Walston’s dogs in the middle of the Pali Highway in morning rush hour traffic. He first attempted to call them over to the sidewalk, and then stepped into the street to get them when they did not respond. Grabbing them by their collars, Eaton decided to take them with him to school to find help. Upon arriving at the Student Services office, Kuuipo managed to escape. According to Walston, Kuuipo made its way back to her at the park. In the meantime, Eaton contacted Walston by using the phone number on Kahuna’s collar. Soon after, dog and owner were reunited.

I think [Eaton’s actions] was a good example of our kids representing our school well.

Vice principal Ryan Frontiera

“I want to give a huge thanks to everyone who was instrumental in keeping [my dogs] safe. This was a miracle really. There are such kind people here who are animal-considerate and it’s a comfort to know that,” said a relieved Walston when contacted later by phone. She reported that both dogs were happily resting. Kuuipo, a coonhound, was curled up on the bed and Kahuna, a pitbull and labrador mix, was by her side. “I definitely won’t make the mistake of taking them off the leash, at least for a while,” she says, chuckling.

At school today, Eaton remained silent about the dog rescue as he went about his classes. When asked about it at the end of the day, he said, “I feel like I’m on top of the world. The circumstances probably could’ve [ended] in a disastrous accident.”

Vice principal Ryan Frontiera was present at the reunion of Kahuna and Walston. “[Walston] was incredibly grateful and gushing. My favorite part was when she hugged [Eaton] and called him a hero, and he [responded] so humbly and shy about it,” he said. “I think [Eaton’s actions] was a good example of our kids representing our school well, taking a little more time and energy to do something when it would have been easier to ignore it.”

Eaton’s kind deed caused him to be late for school but Frontiera dismissed the tardy, seeing it as “a chance for Eaton to do something nice for someone.”

Photographs courtesy of Sharon Zhu (’15).