Kathleen Steinhoff chokes back tears when she speaks about her late son, former Hawaii Pacific University and Punahou basketball star Kameron Steinhoff.<\/p>\n
“I have my good days and my bad days,” she says. “I still get really emotional sometimes.”<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n
Kameron, the former State Player of the Year at Punahou and a part-time starter for the SeaWarriors, died tragically in a night skateboarding accident in May 2011, just hours after finishing his finals at HPU and then visiting several teachers and coaches at Punahou, and meeting with his parents for dinner.<\/p>\n
“I got a call from his friends that he had hit his head while riding someone’s skateboard,” his mother recalls. “Nobody saw it happen, but they heard it.”<\/p>\n
Her son’s death at the young age of 21 came just a few years after another tragedy.<\/p>\n
“I lost my cousin the same way. He was riding a skateboard on a hill on the Big Island when he fell and hit his head,” she says.<\/p>\n
Kathleen believes wearing a safety helmet could have saved both their lives.<\/p>\n
“There are no guarantees,” she says, “but when I see teenagers without a helmet, I tell them, ‘You can break a leg or your arm, but when you hit your head, it’s a different story. You never know when it will happen to you. I lost my son that way.'”<\/p>\n
She says some teenagers scoff at her advice, but she sees others listening.<\/p>\n
“I saw a man with his son, and the boy was wearing a helmet,” she says. She stopped to tell them her story. “They were shocked. The boy listened. I told him how proud I was of him, and thanked them for being safe.”<\/p>\n
She and her mother, Kameron’s grandmother, have tried to get legislation passed to require safety helmets for bikes and skate-boards, but that legislation still has not yet moved forward.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, HPU has worked with the family to get the word out about safety.<\/p>\n
HPU will hold what they are calling “Helmet Night” Saturday, Feb. 9, at Blaisdell Arena.<\/p>\n
Every child in attendance will receive a free bicycle\/skateboarding safety helmet at the conclusion of the men’s basketball game against Point Loma (while supplies last).<\/p>\n
The game starts at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
“HPU started this idea. They’ve been wonderful,” Kathleen says. “I know people now who wear a helmet and it helped save their life. The helmet cracked, but not their head.”<\/p>\n
Kathleen holds on to the memory of her son playing basketball. “It was his life,” she says. “I watched every game. Now, I come to the games and watch Kawika Lyons (Kameron’s roommate). The other day I went to Punahou because the water boy when Kameron played is now on the team. All the memories came flooding back.”<\/p>\n
Helmet Night will help her, as it will help others. One new fan who may be in attendance is her new grandson who is just 6 weeks old, born on Dec. 19. He’s the son of Kathleen’s eldest son Keoni, the former UH football player, and his wife Ipo.<\/p>\n
“They named him Kameron,” she says, approvingly. “So there’s now another Kameron Steinhoff. He’s got big feet and long fingers just like his uncle.”<\/p>\n
You can hear the smile in her voice.<\/p>\n
For more information about Helmet Night, contact HPU athletics at 356-5223.<\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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