What Hercules Mata’afa saw sent shivers down his spine. He knew there wasn't time. He turned his car around and returned to his childhood Lahaina home. chriskamrani on Mata’afa's perilous journey to save his parents from the Maui wildfires.
Christopher KamraniSama and Sophie Mata’afa could turn any spot in the house on Paeohi Street into a dance floor. It was their dream home — the first the Mata’afas owned as a family. So when the mood struck, whether it be in the living room or kitchen or outside by the garden or around the patio furniture, they did. And it always made their seven children beam.“They danced everywhere,” said Hercules Mata’afa, a former Washington State All-American defensive end.
There is nothing left of the Mata’afa household on Paeohi Street. All that stands is an aluminum folding chair and the stovetop oven from the kitchen. Hercules, the 27-year-old former Wazzu star edge rusher and 2017 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, recounted the frightening day Tuesday when he and his parents barely escaped the flames.
Hercules told his parents there was no time left. Sama had been looking for Hercules’ bowl ring from the 2015 Sun Bowl win over“I knew at that point the severity of the situation,” Hercules said. “They were still trying to put things away in the backpack. But if they were in that house for another five or 10 minutes, they’re probably gone. I was in the situation where I needed to save my parents and get them out.
But the complex had been evacuated. Cell service was already spotty throughout the day, but once the fire roared, it became increasingly less reliable. After he left the apartment, he received a text message from Lani saying she’d evacuated and gone to her grandfather’s house on the north side of the island. But there was no word from Sama and Sophie.They had driven out ahead of him, so he was hopeful they were OK. But there was no way of knowing.
Hercules was back on Maui after spending the 2022 season in the USFL playing for the New Jersey Generals. After leaving Wazzu, he spent three years with the Minnesota Vikings and then had practice squad stints with the Washington Commanders and Jacksonville Jaguars. In the immediate aftermath of the fire, countless fundraising sites have been set up to help individuals or families who lost everything. A family friend of Hercules’ sister, Lale, created one four days ago for the Mata’afas, and it has already eclipsed $42,000. Hercules said his family is blessed but reiterated that so many others are in need of assistance in the coming days, weeks and months.
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