Kalani David, On Tear Before The Seizures That Nearly Took His Life

You may have heard, but you may have not. Kalani David, one of the few gents that makes his living as both a professional surfer and skater nearly lost his life late last month. “It was heavy,” he tells Stab. “I finally did this run I was trying forever, it was a back tail into a front blunt at Prince skatepark in Oceanside. I rolled over to my friends and told them I was feeling weird. After I said that, I don’t remember anything. But apparently, I started walking weird into the parking lot, rubbing my fingers together and fell face first into the asphalt.”

Kalani then went into a seizure; an ambulance was called and after a solid twenty minutes, he was packaged up and on a gurney. “I came to in the ambulance and freaked out. I didn’t know what was going on, and I had an IV in my arm.” Mr David had a second seizure in the ambulance, and a third in the hospital; throughout the chaos, his heart stopped. “I’m still trying to gather what happened, but I’m just so stoked to still be here,” he continues. “It’s weird, I’ve been healthy my whole life. I train. I mean I eat shitty sometimes, but for the most part, I’m in good shape and treat my body right.” Kalani’s 18, he’s got time to bounce back but is understandably concerned about the incident. You can hear it in his voice, and all he wants to do is get back in the water.

He’s back on his skate, and hopefully will be back in the water soon. Photo: kalanidavid_

“I’m in San Diego, and that last swell I just sat on the beach and watched my friends get barreled all day,” he says. “Which, I’m stoked for them. Of course, I want my friends to get barreled, but I want to be doing it with them. I skated for the first time a few days ago and felt fine. I have a check up soon, and if the doctor says I’m okay, I’ll be back in the water.”

“I’m just hoping this whole heart situation gets figured out soon, and I can get back out there,” Kalani tells us. “Just for myself, I haven’t surfed for so long that I’m starting to lose my mind. It’s draining. I just want to reboot and have fun. I feel better. It should be sometime soon.”

But, in the meantime, here’s a friendly reminder of how well Kalani floats through and above the brine.