Monday, June 24, 2013

Tribute for a fallen surfer at Goldcoast Burleigh


Here's a nice coast nearshore area picture published by the Goldcoast.com.au this morning:


It's the picture of a surf zone complete with surf waves with surfers gathered that seems they are having an enjoyable time.  The picture has this caption:   "Dozens of surfers paddle out to remember Matt Hughes, who died in a freak surf accident at Byron Bay recently."  The title of the article is: "Tribute for fallen surfer."  And now the story:
DOZENS of surfers paddled out to Matt Hughes' favourite break at Burleigh on the weekend to pay tribute to the father-of-three, who died in a freak surfing accident at Byron Bay.
Family members held hands and formed a small circle inside the ring of surfers during the emotional tribute on Saturday, scattering rose petals in the waves he loved so much.
Mr Hughes was killed when his longboard hit him on the head, bursting a vital blood vessel, on June 9 at Byron Bay's The Pass.
The 39-year-old's brother Anthony Hughes said his family was overwhelmed by the support, with about 500 people attending the paddle-out.
``It went as good as we could have hoped for,'' he said.
``It was uplifting but I'm still riding the roller-coaster at the moment.
``It was a beautiful show of just how much he was loved in the community. It was huge.
``To be honest, it really does show the sort of guy he was. He was just a likeable, easy-going guy.''
Matt's wife, Michelle, who saw the accident unfold, said she took comfort in the fact that her husband's organs were used to save the lives of at least five people.
It is a rather bitter sweet story.  The tragedy was not caused by freaque wave but it was a  " freak surf accident " unfortunately.   No accident is expected or can be predicted. This one is especially seemingly should not have happened. But it did and  it's heart warming to see the surfers are out there paying tribute to the tragic fallen surfer. We sincerely pray for Mr. Matt Hughes, R.I.P. and hope this kind of freak accident will never ever happen again.

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