Family, friends and fellow students are mourning a 19-year-old University of Hawaii at Hilo student who — apparently accidentally — fell to her death last month from the balcony of her sixth-floor apartment in Hilo.
A message sent by UH-Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin to the university community confirmed the passing on April 22 of Coral C. Richardson, whom Irwin said was from Kailua-Kona.
Irwin called Richardson “a Dean’s list undergraduate student majoring in business administration” and said she “served as a peer mentor for the Ka Pouhana Mentoring program.”
A GoFundMe page titled, “Help Support Coral and her family during recovery,” said that initially, Richardson had been medivaced to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu in critical condition. The Tribune-Herald hasn’t yet learned the building where the fatal fall occurred.
A later update noted that Richardson had succumbed to her injuries after having bean placed in a medically induced coma to reduce brain swelling.
The GoFundMe page said that Richardson had a long history of sleepwalking — which is known medically as “somnambulism” — “and as bizarre as it sounds all signs point to her sleepwalking in the middle of the night.”
As of late Friday afternoon, the online fundraiser had raised $40,164 for Richardson’s family.
The fundraising page described Richardson as “a supportive big sister, a daughter to be so proud of and a loving friend in our community.”
One contributor to the fundraiser described Richardson as “a bright light and a natural leader.”
“She was so instrumental in helping Ka Pouhana create relationships with high schools and brought enthusiasm, an incredible work ethic, and sense of purpose to Ka Pouhana,” the contributor wrote. “On behalf of Ka Pouhana, we share our immense gratitude to Coral and condolences to her family and friends. We will miss her.
“We will never forget her.”
Another contributor wrote he will “always remember her kind spirit and surfing talent.”
According to the GoFundMe page, Richardson “loved to surf on the full moon” and a celebration of life has been scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, June 2, at Honolii Beach Park, with a memorial paddle-out at moon rise.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.