![The teen surfer drowned and died. Image[Zander Venezia-Instagram]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/9/7/660x290/b_502x220x82/the-teen-surfer-drowned-and-died-imagezander-venezia-instagram_1556807.jpg "The teen surfer drowned and died. Image[Zander Venezia-Instagram]")
Surfing is an exhilarating, yet risky, sport and some surfers have lost their lives doing what they love. While riding waves around the island of Barbados, a talented teenager died during Category 5 Hurricane Irma on Tuesday. 16-year-old Zander Venezia was on the east coast of Barbados when he died after trying to surf a very nasty wave. The autopsy report revealed that the island native was knocked unconscious after a wave knocked him off his board and he drowned after slamming against a shallow reef. He was in the company of other professional surfers who had flown to the Carribean to surf the historic waves.
The junior surfer was bleeding and not moving
According to New York Post, the other surfers pulled him from the water and began performing CPR. The heartbroken Alan Burke, who is a pro-Surfer and instructor, said that Zander was bleeding and not moving. They tried to take him to the beach fast, but there were some big rocks sticking out of the water that made it quite impossible. Paramedics also tried to revive him on the way to the hospital and performed a 75-minute non-stop CPR.
He found the best wave of his life
According to US Weekly, the teen surfer had told his fellow surfer, Dylan Graves, that he had found the best wave of his life. Dylan was the last person the teen spoke to. Venezia was expected to represent his country at the 2020 Summer Olympics, which will be the first Olympics to include surfing.
The surfing community paid its tribute to the fallen surfer. Kelly Slater shared a 2006 photo of Venezia and him on Wednesday. Then, the late surfer was only five-years-old. Kelly thanked him for being a good friend and for the impact he had on people around him.
An experienced surfer warning
Barbados Today spoke to Mark Holder, who is a veteran surfer, who said, "That wave only breaks when you have hurricane swells and it breaks in a different direction, so that swell breaks like once in a blue moon.
When it is breaking guys go there because it is a beautiful wave, but it is pretty dangerous."
Bella said her brother began surfing when still a young boy
Venezia won the Rip Curl Grom Search in North Carolina in August and the regional championship of the National Scholastic Surfing Association in April. He was one of the most promising junior surfers.
His sister, Bella Venezia, told PEOPLE that the late surfer loved his family and friends and he was aware they were proud of him and his accomplishments. She said that her brother began surfing at the age of five and the family is saddened by the loss. So far Irma storm has claimed at least ten lives.
