When the bus carrying the Kahuku High School girls water polo team flipped over and tumbled into a culvert in Waikane, people prayed for the best, feared the worst, but did what they could.

Kahuku Principal Lisa DeLong marvels at the number of people who went beyond duty or job description when they heard of the accident that Thursday, April 3.

"The Waikane Valley residents who live near the crash scene were upon the bus within seconds, taking the shirts off their backs and tying them together to form a rope to pull the girls out to safety," DeLong said.

There were 28 people on the bus. Twenty-seven were taken to the hospital for various injuries. Some were taken to Castle Medical Center, others were taken to The Queen's Medical Center over the Pali. That meant the potential for "Where's my daughter?!" panic when parents heard the team had been in an accident.

Kahuku faculty and staff quickly set up a chain of communication. Teachers called the families of each of the 25 players and stayed at the school well into the night to relay information.

Kahuku athletic director Joe Whitford had two daughters on that bus: Minnie, a player, and Makana, the coach. Whitford and DeLong jumped in a car to get to the site of the accident but some Kahuku teachers were already there. They just happened to be near the area and stayed with the girls during the rescue effort.

Other Kahuku teachers went to Castle and Queen's to look after the girls. The principals of King Intermediate and Mokapu Elementary showed up at Castle to lend support. In town, DOE Deputy Superintendent Clayton Fujie ran across the street from the Department of Education building to Queen's to stay with players until their parents arrived.

At the accident scene, firefighters crawled into the overturned bus and carefully salvaged the girls' backpacks, cell phones, iPods and slippers. All the players were released from the hospital that night. By Monday, all had been back to school, though not all permanently and some against their parents' wishes.

Kahuku's team has been undefeated in the OIA for the last five years. Two days after the accident, with five players out with injuries, Kahuku beat Mililani and arch-rival Roosevelt. This past weekend, Kahuku beat Leilehua and Kalani.

Senior Janessa Orme said their competitors sent them get-well cards, which she thought was cool. She said she always knew the Kahuku community was close, but she never knew to what extent until those bonds were tested in crisis. The team is now thinking of ways to say "Thank you."

"We had a lot of supporters at our game," Orme said. "Even the football boys came out to support us. Usually it's just our parents."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.