Hello everyone. My Name is Chris. Let me introduce you to an awesome boy name RIVER. River is 13 years old. A Dana Point Local. He is a true surfer Grom, Doheny local, donates his time to the ecology center in San Juan often, he's an excellent baseball catcher, and an exciting happy young boy!

He suffered a serious head injury while boogie boarding. He was hit by another board and left unconscious in the water. Unfortunately the other surfer wasn’t aware he hit him.

*Let me share my story of how we met.

On Monday the 1st. I Just paddled out at Doheny beach. Waves were pumping and I was in the inside waiting for the sets to die down. When I look out about 20 yards and I see a body floating. Turns out this was river. 2 waves crash over river while he was unconscious bringing him underwater. I leaped off the board and I grabbed him. 2 more waves out the back and I covered his nose and mouth under the waves. Between waves, I laid him on my chest and at this point realized the blood all over both of us. He was gushing blood from his head and there was a huge gash. He was in an out of consciousness. I threw him on my chest and start swimming in and I scream for help. A man from the beach (another hero) heard me and rushed out to help carry river in.

His life was saved!! He was on the verge of drowning to death. God put me in the right place at the right time to save this boys life. I thank God for the Trust to do this! I held his hand for most of the time and helped him calm his breath and prayed over him on the beach and told him that Jesus will heal him to say his name over and over. First responder showed up and took him.

Looking back on SurfLine cameras. River was struck by another surfers board (that was as let go during a bigger wave) in the head. River suffered an Indented Skull Fracture and had surgery that night and a steel plate was inserted to help heal the fracture. His left side movement is weak and not responding at the level it was. There is slow progress but with a brain bruise it'll take time to heal properly. River is so strong!!

He was just released home 10/3/2025 Thank god, and is on a long recovery to heal.

He is just a kid and cant take care of himself , and needs to be at home for 6-8 weeks minimum with constant care. Which means his parents will now need to take time off of work to be with their son. Which I imagine is going to be a financial hurdle, Not to mention dealing with the medical bills, PT and extra professional care needed to heal their son.

The goal with this fundraiser is to help Rivers' family focus on their son and his recovery and not the Financial stress that this will cause. Please help River and his parents. Money wont fix what happened, But it will help him and his family focus on his recovery.

I feel so connected to this little Grom now. I know that he will be a buddy of mine for the remainder of our lives. Savings a humans life is something so surreal. I have this strong connection towards him I want to surprise his parents with this great gift. My hope is that we can support River and his family as a community. Please contribute if possible.

**thank you to the first responders and the medical staff that helped and will help get River through this!