A Utah man recently published a book about his near-death experience on the Kalalau Trail over a decade ago and how he developed a close friendship with the rescuers who risked their lives to save his family in one of the largest trail rescues in Kaua’i history.

“There were incredible men and women, strangers, other hikers who came to help our family,” said author Rich Greenberg about the experience that is the basis of his book “Surviving a Miracle.”

“There were rescuers who risked their lives to have complete strangers fly through the air in a dangerous ravine to save a group of people,” he said.

Greenberg detailed his April 6, 2014, experience in a recent interview, saying he and his wife, Carrie, along with his three young children, Zach (12), Samantha (9), and Marla (3), hiked to Hanakāpīʻai Falls, an 8-mile (13-kilometer) loop hike on the North Shore.

However, as they approached the waterfall, the weather suddenly changed and it became windy and a storm came along.

He and his family decided to turn back, but as they crossed a creek, a flash flood occurred. “We had only crossed it about 10 minutes ago, no problem,” Greenberg said.

Twelve-year-old Zach then slipped on one of the rocks and was swept into the river by a strong current.

Greenberg tried to grab Zach’s arm, but was also swept into the creek along with his three-year-old daughter Marla, who was sitting in a baby carrier on his back.

“It was like someone had shoved me in the back really hard, and then my daughter and I were caught in a huge current,” he said.

Greenberg was able to hold on to a large rock, and a passerby – who happened to be carrying a 9-foot camera tripod – was able to pull him and his daughter out of the water.

Greenberg then ran down the creek bank and found that Zach had climbed onto a ledge just above the river.

With no cell phone reception to call for help, Greenberg and other hikers relied on word of mouth to alert rescue crews to the incident.

Eventually, a Kauai County rescue helicopter flew to the scene, and about 10 to 12 rescue personnel assisted hikers stranded at various points along the trail.

Kauai Fire Chief Aaron Hawthorne arrived by helicopter to assist with the situation and described the rescue team’s efforts in a story similar to Greenberg’s.

Hawthorne said he found Zach in a dangerous situation and mentioned that the boy had been clinging to the rock for about five hours waiting to be rescued. He also said they only had about an hour left before it would get dark outside.

“You can imagine a little kid stuck on a rock in the middle of a raging river,” Hawthorne said. “He was definitely in a desperate situation and the other people were cold and wet… But nobody was in as precarious a situation as he was.”

Hawthorne described being lifted from the helicopter into the river to rescue Zach, but the rope he was hanging from prevented him from reaching the child. “I was about waist-deep in the raging water trying to get to it, and the boy jumped off the rock and I finally caught him in the water,” Hawthorne said.

Zach held on to Hawthorne as the helicopter lifted her hundreds of feet into the air to safety. “Then we went back and got the rest of the people that were there,” Hawthorne said.

That afternoon and the following morning, 120 people were rescued along the way.

Greenberg, a devout member of the Church of Latter-day Saints, considers the incident a miracle from God.

“Almost every time there’s a flash flood here and someone falls in, we pull the body out the next day. That’s what the reporters say. We cover rescues. We don’t cover people making it out of the river when it’s flooding,” Greenberg said.

“Something like this is just unheard of, and that’s why I really believe that God had a hand in it.”

Hawthorne also called the rescue a miracle and pointed out that it was unlikely that Greenberg and his two children escaped the river unharmed.

“The technical rescue was based on training and equipment and hours of practice to be able to do something so technical in these conditions,” Hawthorne said.

But Hawthorne, who has been involved in similar rescues, said people usually do not survive when they are swept into the rivers.

“So people don’t get swept up in our rivers and they usually make it out. Unfortunately, they hit their heads or get caught in branches or something tragic happens. For that to happen to a father, a baby and a little boy – the father and baby were fortunately swept up against a rock and were able to be pulled out by someone with a tripod. And a little kid ended up on a rock in a creek and nobody knows how he got there,” Hawthorne said. “Yeah, it was pretty miraculous.”

This year, Hawthorne and several other Kaua’i firefighters won the Benjamin Franklin Award of Valor for their efforts in Dallas, receiving national recognition for their heroic rescue.

“It’s a really good feeling to know that you’ve made a difference and helped your family,” Hawthorne said of receiving the award.

Greenberg, Hawthorne and the other rescuers involved later became close friends, going on ski trips, barbecues and returning to the Hanakāpīʻai Falls trail together.

“We get together once a year and have a barbecue here, and every one of us who was on the rescue has visited them. They’re from Salt Lake City,” Hawthorne said. “So it’s really great to not only make a difference in their lives, but to make friends with family and someone that you know is going to be with them forever.”

During Greenberg’s recent visit to Kauaʻi, he held a book signing for his novel at the Talk Story bookstore in Hanapēpē.

“The goal was to tell the story and bring awareness to what Kaua’i firefighters do every day,” Greenberg said of his book’s goal, emphasizing the fire department’s ongoing rescue efforts. Greenberg also noted that a portion of the proceeds from book sales will be donated to the Friends of the Kaua’i Fire Department to fund emergency supplies and other resources for rescue operations.

“People are good and do amazing things to help others, and people should believe in miracles from God,” Greenberg said of the book’s message.

Greenberg’s novel “Surviving a Miracle: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Rescue on Kauaʻi’s Nā Pali Coast“ can currently be pre-ordered on Amazon and will be officially released on August 13th.