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A Michigan woman and her adult children are suing a Maui resort and Hawaiian tourism bodies after her husband’s death, claiming they failed to warn him of the potential risks of snorkeling.
According to the lawsuit, the family is seeking an unspecified amount of damages and a trial by jury.
Patricia and Ray Johnson arrived at the Fairmont Kea Lani in Maui on February 23, 2022, marking the couple’s sixth visit to Hawaii.
Two days later, Ray, 64, and other vacationers snorkeled around Wailea Beach, situated in front of the hotel resort. While walking on a trail adjacent to the beach, Patricia told USA TODAY that she saw other snorkelers helping her husband.
She told the news outlet that she rushed to the beach, where “things deteriorated quickly,” and despite calling 911, medical professionals were unable to revive her husband.
Although the autopsy attributed Ray Johnson’s death to accidental drowning, Patricia Johnson and her family contest this.
In the lawsuit, which was reviewed by Business Insider, the Johnson family argues that ROPE — Rapid Onset Pulmonary Edema —likely led to Ray Johnson’s passing.
ROPE is a sudden-onset condition characterized by the accumulation of fluid in the lungs’ air sacs, which can make breathing difficult, according to the Mayo Clinic.
A July 2010 Snorkel Safety Study, conducted in collaboration with the Hawaii State Department of Health and the Hawaii Tourism Authority, distinguishes drowning by ROPE from drowning by aspirating water.
It said ROPE does not necessarily need “submersion in or inhalation of liquid” and often looks different from drowning by aspiration.
The study said drowning by ROPE often involves shortness of breath, confusion, and unconsciousness, with an absence of a visible struggle.
Patricia Johnson told ABC 7 Eyewitness News that Ray had kept his head above water before appearing disorientated.
“It didn’t make sense. When I got the autopsy report, it said drowning. I watched Ray come in,” Patricia Johnson told KITV. “When you are drowning, you are not talking to the people around you.”
According to the lawsuit, Ray Johnson eventually lost consciousness before reaching the shore.
The lawsuit cites the Snorkel Safety Study and accuses the defendants — the Fairmont Kea Lani, the Hawaiian Tourism Authority, and the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau — of negligence for failing to adequately warn tourists about the risks of ROPE when snorkeling.
The lawsuit said the defendants have “essentially ignored the Study, its conclusions about the risks to tourist safety, and especially its recommended warnings.”
The study noted that several factors can contribute to ROPE, including snorkel resistance and underlying heart and lung diseases.
While acknowledging Ray’s history of cardiac issues, the lawsuit said that he had not been advised by a doctor to refrain from physical activity.
The lawsuit also said that Ray wasn’t aware that he should wait a few days after flying to snorkel: “Had he received the warnings crafted by the Study authors, he would have heeded them.”
While the Snorkel Safety Study acknowledged the plausibility of air travel as a contributing factor to ROPE, it noted that it remains only a hypothesis.
The Johnson family’s attorney, Jay Stuemke, told Business Insider by email that: “Since the tourism industry refuses to do the right thing and warn incoming tourists of these hazards, it is incumbent upon us to do so.”
He added: “If even one life is saved by this message, then Ray Johnson will not have died in vain.”
Speaking to USA TODAY, Patricia Johnson said she hoped the lawsuit would lead to more warnings. “I truly believe my husband would still be here if we’d been warned,” she said.
The Fairmont Kea Lani and Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while the Hawaiian Tourism Authority declined to comment on litigation.
