Friends come together to honor Aaron Dorney-Sundquist following fatal Christmas Day crash

The Kaua‘i community was coming together Sunday afternoon to say goodbye to Aaron Dorney-Sundquist, who was fatally hit by a vehicle while crossing Kūhiō Highway on Christmas evening.

A resident of Kaua‘i for 20 years, Dorney-Sundquist came to the Garden Island for the surf. He quickly became a fixture of the community where he was known as someone who always spoke his mind and could always be counted on.

“Aaron had a lot of different little families here, and we all get to meet each other (today),” said Cliff Texeira, a long-time friend and manager at Kenji Burger.

At 3 p.m., friends will gather to paddle out at Hanalei Bay in honor of Dorney-Sundquist’s memory. Kathie Dorney, who lives in Arizona, has been on Kaua‘i for the past few weeks trying to get any information she can about her son’s death.

Dorney said her son was a simple guy who was kind, a hard worker and a “good-hearted true friend.”

Dorney said her son would never just walk past someone who was houseless. “He would stop and have a conversation with them. He wanted people to be seen and heard.”

A 2008 Toyota sedan was traveling north at about 6:50 p.m. on Dec. 25 on Kūhiō Highway when it struck Dorney-Sundquist while he was crossing the highway with his bicycle in a marked crosswalk at the intersection with Kawaihau Road, according to press releases from Kaua‘i Police Department.

Dorney said the vehicle dragged her son 30 feet down the road.

Police said speed didn’t appear to be a factor in the crash. Toxicology results are pending. The investigation is ongoing.

Dorney was on a plane from Arizona to Kaua‘i within two hours after hearing her son was hit by a vehicle. Her niece, Schele Triplett also traveled to the Garden Island to help her aunt.

Triplett said it was Dorney-Sundquist’s roommate who reached out to his mother when he didn’t come home for dinner.

Dorney-Sunquist was admitted to Wilcox Medical Center as a John Doe. It was past midnight before Dorney finally got confirmation from police that it was her son who was hit and was flown to Queen’s Medical Center on O‘ahu in critical condition.

Dorney called Queen’s where medical professionals informed her that Dorney-Sunquist wasn’t going to survive.

“He never woke up,” Dorney said. “I was there when they went through the procedure to pronounce him deceased.”

Heath Scher, who was best friends with Dorney-Sundquist and co-workers from Kenji Burger in Kapa‘a, was with the 44-year-old on Christmas Day celebrating with friends, eating food and playing Horseshoes at the Neighborhood Pavilion.

“He was an onery kind of guy who had a heart of gold,” Scher said, adding Dorney-Sundquist always spoke his mind about things he felt passionately about.

Scher said one thing his friend spoke out about was he didn’t like when people wore sunglasses when they spoke to him.

“He always wanted to see your eyes when you were talking to him,” Scher said.

Kathy Hays, store manager at Kenji Burger in Kapa‘a, worked with Dorney-Sundquist. She recalled a moment with him last year when she returned to work after her mother passed away.

“He was the first one to give the biggest hug,” Hays said.

Hays said Dorney-Sundquist could always be counted on and it was wonderful working with him.

“When someone’s there and there and there and then they’re not, it’s an adjustment,” she said.

Texeira knew Dorney-Sundquist for seven or eight years. He met the 44-year-old at the pavilion where they hung out with friends.

“He was very competitive and we used to get into arguments while playing Portagee Horseshoes,” Texeira said.

Texeira said people will miss his charisma.

“He also knew a lot of stuff,” he said. “He knew everybod and any conservation; heconservsatione knew something about it.”

Dorney has spent the past few weeks on the Garden Island trying to get answers about her son’s death. She’s particularly confused as to why he was admitted as a John Doe when he had his ID on him at the time of the crash.

Dorney said she has been given no updates.

She leaves for Arizona on Tuesday. While she did get a returned call from Kaua‘i County’s managing director, she still hasn’t been given an initial accident report and hasn’t been informed of his exact cause of death.

While she is going home, Dorney said she will continue to seek answers.