Photo: Wind Dude // YouTube
A powerful storm battered Israel last week, with winds of up to 65 miles an hour thrashing the coast and stirring up waves 30 feet high. Despite warnings to stay away from the beach, numerous kitesurfers flocked to take advantage of the gale-force winds. Tragically, one of them died on Friday in a shocking turn of events that was caught on camera by his fellow surfers.
The victim was 46-year-old Lior Dadon, a longtime kitesurfing enthusiast with over two decades of experience, as Ynet News reports. Dadon ventured out into the waters of Tei’o Beach on Friday afternoon, where a heavy gust of wind suddenly carried him away and threw him over 500 feet into an outcropping of rocks. Paramedics arrived on the scene to find Dadon unconscious and without a pulse. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The Israeli kitesurfing community mourns the untimely passing of our friend of the wind, Lior Dadon, while doing the thing we all love so much,” read a message displayed at a memorial for Dadon. “Your big smile touched us all and will stay with us forever.”
