As Hurricane Irma first began to strike the Caribbean, the storm took one of its first victims: 16-year-old surfer Zander Venezia.
Venezia was a young professional surfer traveling with a group that went to Barbados to surf the increased swells caused by Irma, according to Surfline.
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The rough waves took him into a shallow, rocky reef area when we was knocked off his board.
When friends got him out of the water, he was bleeding and not moving. CPR was administered and an ambulance took him to a nearby hospital. He was non-responsive but breathing at the hospital, but was unable to make it through.
Despite early assumptions that he broke his neck, an autopsy revealed Venezia was knocked unconscious and drowned.
“He was one of my sons’ best friends, and like a son to me,” instructor Alan Burke told Surfline. “Zander was such a good, funny kid. He was always joking, and he just loved surfing. He was so jovial, such a joy to be around. I just can’t believe he’s gone. I’m a mess, man. We’re all a mess over here.”
Before he attempted to surf the wave that took his life, Venezia shared his last words to a friend.
“I just got the best wave of my life,” Venezia said.
