Dale and I visited Lacey tonight in hospital. He gave me permission to write this post about the events on the weekend. He requested that I pass a message of self awareness and looking after your own health.

Lacey is super fit and looks like a franger full of walnuts right now. Running and training everyday. If you're not aware he also has a professional sports background and works a physical job. At the beginning of our training session on Saturday morning he had a massive heart attack and as I joked with him this evening; no need to play lottery, all the luck was used up for him still to be able to buy, sell and paddle more boards in the future.

Here's the chain of events that kept him with us, very, very lucky.

Normally training at the Alley you go down the beach to stay away from surfers. On Saturday it was flat and a very high tide. The call was made to train right off the main car park. This decision saved his life.

The paddle sets were 4 minutes out taking you a long way off shore, he fell around 3 meters from shore after a full lap. If it happened way out the back it would be very different. He was pulled from the water quickly. This saved his life.

There were very skilled people, lifeguards, doctors, first aid people and countless people all ready to jump in and help. These people made the difference.

30 seconds across the road was at the Marine rescue was a Defib machine. All information says this without doubt saved his life.

After being taken to hospital by ambulance he was moved to another hospital for full blown open heart surgery, this bypassed the blockages and got him going again.

I can go on about the miraculous factors that saved him, you get the message, he was very lucky. The point here is only 8% of people survive.. SUP is an old farts sport, have you been checked out? Do you have first aid for your friends? Don't rely upon being that lucky...

Mark seems to be out the woods and was already giving surfing advice this afternoon, quite a relief...

I'm sure you all join me in wishing him the best for a speedy recovery. We may need to help him out though, stay tuned while arrangements are made.


Cheers and stay healthy...

Faaark, big thanks to Lacey for wanting us all to know the story and to you for passing it on. That's a pretty stark reminder about keeping an eye on the inner man. Reckon the whole SB and SUP community will be wishing him a speedy recovery.

Great work Chris - incredibly stoked Mark is hanging tough & rapt he is with us ..... also my kudos to all that assisted on the day , very uplifting stuff !!!



PS: MARK ... these are for you , the ones I couldn't put in the PM brother >>>>>>

All the best in your recovery mate need you back trying boards out so I can pick up the scraps the 8/8 is going sweet all the best from the WA crew

First up I've got to say what an amazing job the boys did on Saturday morning in saving Lacey you should be totally stoked with your achievements,I know a couple of the guy's that were there and thanks for keeping me in the loop via text messages,I've known Lacey for over 30 years and was rocked to the core when I received the message. Normally Lacey would come for a longboard session after sup training this Saturday no show not a text message which was odd,then I received the message,so stoked we will be sharing more time with this froth master again down the track.I'll be seeing him Friday with something to pass some time away during his recovery,please keep us longboards in the loop with any help or assistance you guys are planning Lacey is a huge part of the gang over there,Once again I can't say it enough the guy's that were there on the day amazing thank you so much!

Wow for a super fit man grommet like lacey to have heart trouble is a wake up call for everyone!
Get well soon Mark the fin industry needs you

So sorry to hear of your wee mishap Lacey, here's to a quick and uneventful recovery to see you back in the water soon!

Hi Mark ,

Wishing you a quick recovery and hope your back in the water soon.

Rich

Good to see that you survived and after surgery will be a new man. Four weeks ago I woke up with bad chest pains
which did not go away for an hour , still 5am , so drove myself to emergency ( I have already copped flack for this ) and
the doctors after a quick check of medical hist admitted me to the cardiac ward where I stayed for 3 days.

The point is - a lot of factors can make you a high risk - as I am. ex smoker pre diabetic 5k overweight 63 y old

so a smoking hist, overweight/bmi index, bronchitis, asthma etc --

THERE ARE A HEAP OF FACTORS THAT ACCUMULATE AS YOU AGE WHICH COMBINE TO MAKE MANY PEOPLE HIGH RISK


Steve

Wishing you a speedy recovery Mark. Aloha...The Sheards

Well done to all of those who helped LL. Get well soon LL - we will be thinking of ya in the Greenroom.

I was chatting with Lacey the other day after not seeing him for over a year and was amazed by how ripped he was. Goes to show that you still need to be super careful even if you are fit.

All the best for a speedy recovery mate. Can't wait to catch you out in the surf again very soon.

Get well soon, Mark. The gods were certainly looking after you that day. Well done to everyone who helped out. It was an awesome team effort by everyone. Great outcome.

Get well soon Lacey. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Wow. Makes you stop and think. Especially when your in the surf. A big get well from all of us here in NZ

matt18 said..

get well soon

x 2