Man Dies From Surfing In Hurricane

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

This Thursday 11 deaths were confirmed due to the monstrous Hurricane Irma, which continues to sweep the Caribbean.

At least one of them is powerfully drawing the attention of public opinion, since it is a 16-year-old boy who died trying to surf in the middle of the storm through Barbados.

Zander Venezia, originally from Bridgetown, Barbados, and a rising figure on the world surf scene, was with a group of colleagues trying to "catch the incredible water tunnels" that had been generated on the island by the storm, According to sources at the surfline.com site.

Witnesses narrated that Venezia had just jumped on a huge wave and was trying to get back to shore when another wave fell on top of him, pushing him to the bottom and lashing his body against a reef.

"They told me that Zander was flipped [by a wave] during its closure, where it probably hit bottom," Alan Burke said tearfully to the aforementioned portal. “[The surfer] Nathan Florence was the first to catch up with him, then he yelled at the others and started practicing first aid. Zander was bleeding and was not moving."

The events occurred in an area known as Box by Box, which according to Burke "is a very hard place to enter and exit, even if you have that ability." "There are a lot of big rocks around and some of them stick out of the water," said the professional surfer.

An ambulance took Venezia to the hospital in Speightstown and despite being given first aid for over an hour, and still breathing when he arrived at the hospital, he died shortly after being admitted.

Burke later revealed the autopsy results. Contrary to expectations, Venezia suffered no skull or neck fractures. "He lost consciousness with the blow and drowned," said his friend. Rest in peace.