Samoan Tragedy Touches 49er
Isaac Sopoaga struggles to get in touch with his family
By JOE KUKURA
Updated 2:55 PM PST, Sat, Oct 3, 2009
Our hearts and thoughts are with San Francisco 49ers' Isaac Sopoaga this weekend, as the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the defensive end has been unable to reach many of his family and loved ones in American Samoa since Tuesday's 8.0 earthquake and tsunami.
Sopoaga was born in Pago Pago, American Samoa, where power outages and rescue efforts are still continuing from the devastation from earlier this week. Sopoaga still has family living in American Samoa, but he has been unable to reach them.
"There's a couple family members were injured," Sopoaga told the Chronicle. "Other than that, everybody is OK. There is no (phone) line service. There's no way for me to get a hold of them."
Sopoaga lived in American Samoa until graduating from Samoana High School, and attended college at Hawaii. He has lived in the Bay Area since being drafted by the 49ers in 2004.
The San Francisco 49ers have always enjoyed a strong Samoan and Polynesian fan community, so the news of the tsunami hits Bay Area fans especially hard.
The American Red Cross is collecting donations online to help tsunami relief efforts.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who only sounds Polynesian.
Copyright NBC Local Media
First Published: Oct 2, 2009 2:54 PM PST
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