Kalani David, Hawaiian Surf And Skate Prodigy, Dies At 24

Hawaiian surf and skate phenom Kalani David died of a seizure today while surfing in Costa Rica. He was 24.

According to photographer Peter King, a close friend and longtime supporter of Kalani, he passed away after “a massive seizure while surfing” down in Costa Rica, where he’d reconnected with his family.

Kalani had long battled health issues, including Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome, in which “there is an extra electrical pathway in the heart (that) can lead to periods of rapid heart rate,” he explained to Stab six years ago. It nearly took his life while skating in Oceanside in 2016.

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At 14-years-old Kalani was a skating prodigy, finding himself ranked above Bob Burnquist and Bucky Lasek on the Dew Tour’s Bowl Series. That same year he travelled to Bali to compete in the World Junior Championships at Keramas, where he was one of the form surfers of the contest, throwing down huge aerial maneuvers on his way to a fourth-round loss to Conner Coffin. Asked about the decision to pursue skating or surfing as a career, he said: “If it was life or death, and I had to choose skating or surfing, I’d choose death.”

We are thinking about Kalani’s many loved ones. We were big fans.