Woman rides “the best wave of her life” then dies

Over the past week, Swami’s beach in Encinitas has become a morbid scene. On Friday, November 30, Kenny Mann, a surfer and glasser of 40 years, was found dead at Swami’s. He worked with Chris Christenson and Moonlight glassing. Kenny was found in his wetsuit, leash attached to his leg with only half of his surfboard. He’d been surfing beneath a full moon when something went wrong.

Then, yesterday at Swami’s beach Joy Ann Froding, a 56-year-old surfer, passed away. She was sitting on her board after riding “one of the best waves of her life,” when she had a (possible) heart attack and collapsed. Her friend Robbie Nelson taught Joy how to surf and Swami’s was her favourite break. “It made me happy to know that she stuck with surfing,” Robbie wrote on Facebook. “That beautiful wave was her last memory.”

Which is strangely similar to the case of Jeff “Mana” Walthall, a 47-year-old surfer and photographer from Hawaii, who took one last noseride before collapsing and passing away. It’s a macabre reality but to die shortly after doing what one loves is gravely beautiful.

Our hearts go out to the loved ones of Joy, Kenny and Mana. RIP.