The Huntington Beach surfing community lost one of its own

The Huntington Beach surfing community lost one of its own today

when local surfer Wesly Goldenhar was found unresponsive in the water at 20th Street, approximately 100 yards south of Lifeguard Tower #20. Surfers on the scene attempted to rescue Goldenhar before lifeguards and paramedics responded.

He was transported to Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach where he was pronounced dead at 10:40am. “I’d just put my board in the sand and was putting on my wetsuit when I saw a guy go over [the falls] and hit his head on his board. I could hear it from the beach and knew right away it was bad, but had no idea how bad,” said Sean Slajer, who was just about to paddle out when the incident occurred.

“His board came up, but he didn’t,” continued Slajer. “Eventually his body floated up. He was face down and unresponsive. A nearby surfer tried to rescue him, and that’s when my buddy and I jumped in the water to help. We got him to the beach and began CPR while we waited for backup.”

According to one local surfer,  "the shorebreak there is kinda gnarly right now. There's a huge deep trench from the last swell, so the swell unloads on the inside shorebreak."

The Orange County Sheriff Coroner did not report a cause of death, simply that Goldenhar was found “unresponsive.”

Slajer, an employee at Sakal Surf Shop, noted that he had seen Goldenhar out surfing in the area before. Goldenhar was 46 years old and leaves behind a wife and son. 

1 of 2

• HB surfer Wesly Goldenhar was found unresponsive in the water at 20th Street (pictured), approximately 100 yards south of Lifeguard Tower #20 this morning. He was transported to Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach where he was pronounced dead. Photo: Chris Sardelis