At 14, he won the World Junior Championships, and legends recognize him as one of the greatest talents on surfboards and skateboards. But now Kalani David dies in a tragic accident in Costa Rica. The 24-year-old suffers a heart attack on the water.
Kalani David is dead. The American surfer and skateboarder died while surfing in Costa Rica. According to consistent media reports, the 24-year-old suffered a heart attack on the water. Photographer Peter Kind, a friend of the athlete, confirmed to the magazine “Surfers Mag” that David lost his life as a result of a “serious seizure while surfing”. The gossip portal “TMZ” quoted the local authorities from Costa Rica, who described the accident as follows: “He was surfing when he apparently suffered a kind of epileptic seizure and drowned.” His father, David David, confirmed the death to CNN.
Both on the surfboard and on the skateboard, Kalani David was one of the best in his field. According to his profile on the official website of the X Games, one of the largest and most important extreme sports events, he grew up with both sports. “You could call him a seasoned veteran even at the age of 14,” it says. After all, by the time he was 14, he had already won two gold medals at the junior world surfing championships.
However, according to several reports, David suffered from “Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome”, a rare heart disease. This manifests itself in sudden heart palpitations, but it can also result in interruptions or a standstill. In June, the exceptional athlete himself wrote on Instagram that his doctors wanted to ban him from driving and surfing – “because of the seizures that I keep having”. He can “continue surfing, but if I have one again and I’m not rescued in time, I’ll die or become a vegetable because my brain isn’t getting enough air.” Tragically, that scenario now seems to have happened.
A few years ago he had open-heart surgery to reduce the number of seizures. “I’m still lucky,” David continued in June, “and the angels are holding their protective hand over me because I don’t know how I’m going to survive all this.” Actually, he was planning to “get things under control “to get on with my life”. Unfortunately, this wish remains unfulfilled.
Meanwhile, the farewell greetings and expressions of grief are collecting on his profile, the comments are full of wishes that the 24-year-old may rest in peace. The surfing legend Kelly Slater, who is the record world champion with 11 titles, paid tribute to the deceased on Instagram. Captioning a photo they shared, he wrote: “Kalani was one of the most talented surfers and skaters in the world, pushing his limits every time he got up.” He also expressed his sympathy for “the numerous friends Kalani had on the shores of this world”.
