Toni Keanuenueokalani Kaonohi was born on December 2, 1982 to Leighton and Beatrice Kaonohi. Toni was always a happy go lucky child who always had a smile on her face. Toni loved to perform whether it be in a play or dancing and singing for her family. Toni was a JPO at Kapunahala Elementary where she attended all 7 years. That is where her love for acting began. She starred in 3 plays put on by the school and from there she began performing for Mr. Ronald Bright at Castle High School. One of her performances, Oklahoma, took her and her drama squad to New York, Virginia and North Carolina. Her performances for Mr. Bright continued until she graduated. While she was at Castle High School, she was an active participant in her music class performances, where she played the ukulele, sang, danced hula and MC’d most of their performances. Toni auditioned for the Brown Bags to Stardom during her junior and senior years and achieved first place within her high school and came in second place island wide. When Toni graduated she attended Windward Community College, majoring in Psychology. She worked at the Marimed Foundation, where she was a youth counselor working with troubled youth. She loved what she did there and would go above and beyond her calling.
Toni also held many positions within her church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was a primary teacher, teaching the 7&8 year olds and also the 11 year olds. After that she attended a ward for single adults where she was the choir leader, chorister, activities leader and ward missionary.
Her music career began with SoulFree where she was a backup singer with her sister Kaulana and cousin Mailani. She also debut on albums such as Keahiwai, Vaihi, and Kani Makou. She loved to sing, that was her passion. Toni sang a lot in church and was requested by many of the wards on the island to do special musical numbers in their sacrament services. Toni had written eight original tracks that she recorded with her cousin Aaron Kaonohi from Vaihi, for her CD that she was working on.
While pursuing this music career Toni was working at Life Foundation as the Volunteer Coordinator and Operations Manager. Life Foundation works with families and single people who have HIV/AIDS and assist them with their daily living situation. She loved recruiting volunteers to work in the office, help serve meals, work at their annual AIDS walk and other activities that was held in the community. People loved to work with her, because she was so full of life and was always nice to everyone no matter how you treated her, what walk of life you came from or what choices you have made, Toni treated everyone the same and always with love.
Then after much fasting and prayer, she received a personal revelation to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She had always wanted to be a missionary and because of her love for the gospel and her faith in our savior Jesus Christ, she took the opportunity to share it with others. She was called to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mission on May of 2007. She served throughout the state and in the upper part of Michigan. Families in her mission call and write to us saying what a wonderful and special person she is. She would befriend anyone that she would come in contact with. She is the kind of person that wouldn’t hold grudges and would brush it off and go on with life. She enjoyed being with people and sharing her talents. She never put herself above others and her family always came first, especially her nieces and nephews who are the lights of her life. She always cared for others, even if it left her with nomoney at the end of the day, it was okay cause she was able to help someone in need. Toni has the biggest heart and is so selfless. In words, I cannot express how special she is. Even in times of physical trial and pain she still wore a smile on her face. She had suffered with migraines and anemia and countless other ailments, but kept living life to the fullest, never complaining. For the past 4 months Toni has been suffering with bad migraines, but kept on working hard as a missionary for the lord. Her migraines left her tired, nauseous and slurred her vision and speech. So on the 19th of August the pain had grown so intense that she was rushed to the E.R. where a helicopter awaited to take her to the University of Wisconsin Medical Hospital. Upon arrival she had a CT scan done where they found swelling in her brain and then was taken to have a MRI done where they found a large tumor sitting on the top left side of her brain. The doctor said it would be a risky surgery being that her tumor was covered with tiny blood vessels.Well, her surgery took 10 hours and while in recovery her brain started to swell pushing the left side onto the right, making it swell even larger. They then took her back into the operating room, where a piece of skull was removed to alleviate the pressure within her brain. When she came out of the operating room the surgeon put her into an induced coma where she’s been for the past three weeks. During this time she had numerous infections, a stroke and other complications. They slowly reduced the medication to gradually bring her out of her coma. On September 5th she was able to open her eyes and has been able to follow people with her eyes and move her left pointer finger as if she was conducting music. Her recovery is a day to day process. Her doctors can not say for sure how long recovery will take and what senses and functions she will regain. She had to have a tracheotomy done and had a shunt placed in her brain to help it drain, because it won’t drain on it’s own. She will live with this shunt in her brain and be on seizure medication and numerous others for the rest of her life. Here is a girl who was so full of life and here she is fighting for it now. A prophet of the lord once proclaimed “I will go and do the things which the lord had commanded for I know that the lord give no commandment unto the children of men save he shall prepare a way for them, that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” Toni emulates the message of this scripture by living her life in accordance to our Heavenly Father’s plan and believing that the Lord will help her accomplish anything placed in front of her, whether trial or tribulation.
It's been six weeks since this whole ordeal began. She has been transported to Dixie Medical in St. George, Utah where her parents reside. Each new day is another obstacle, but she presses forward, always doing what her doctor's and therapist ask from her. She is not a quitter, she's a fighter and she always overcomes all trial that are place before her. So we her family are confident that she will pull through this, it's not going to be tomorrow or a month from now, but she will stand on her own and sing her heart out. She will be able to sing again and warm the hearts of those who listen. She is our little sister, cousin, friend, and a fighter and will get through this, but not without the help of family and friends. So we thank you all who contribute in any way possible and lend your support for our family and our beloved sister. Mahalo
