Mathew Tomson, 15 - Son of Surfing Legend, Shaun Tomson
aka Bob
http://www.globalsurfnews.com/news.asp?Id_news=21566
R.I.P. Mathew Tomson
In the wake of the tragic death of legendary South African surfer
Shaun Tomson's 15-year-old son Mathew, Shaun has requested that we
distribute his letter and the image attached:
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 3 May, 2006 : - - Our beautiful 15
year old son Mathew Tomson lost his life in a tragic schoolboy prank
on Monday evening 24 th April 2006 in Durban, South Africa. Other than
telling me about how excited he was to play in his first rugby match
the next day and how much he loved me and his mom, the words of this
story were the last words he spoke to me on the phone across the
oceans from South Africa to Santa Barbara. He had recently been
enrolled at my old school, Clifton, one of South Africa’s finest
educational establishments and was loving its rigorous challenges. My
remarkable wife was enjoying devoting all her efforts to Mathew and to
making being a mom the number one priority in her life.
He was making outstanding academic progress and his easy smile, warm
personality, mischievous sense of humor and good looks had him
surrounded him with a circle of wonderful new friends. He was
effervescent and laughing and looking forward to seeing me in the next
few weeks.
An hour after the phone call he was taken from us, from a prank gone
awry. Our boy loved life and life loved him back. He liked surfing; he
loved downhill bike riding and liked going fast and riding radically.
I’d sent him a new front fork for his bike and he just loved it, "Dad,
I can manual for as long as I want he’d say" - manualling is a
difficult maneuver, doing a wheelie without pedaling while riding down
hill. It took skill and balance, something he innately possessed. He
liked swimming and water polo and we had some great days together body
surfing and getting bombed in the wild shore break at Waimea Bay in
Hawaii.
Carla had taken him to Maritzburg, a neighboring town on numerous
occasions and she watched his first race when he was so thrilled to be
lent gloves by World Downhill Champ Greg Minar. At the event he met
Nigel Hicks who became one of his close friends and took him on many
downhill adventures.
He was truly thriving in his new school at Clifton and really enjoying
the adventures associated with his new lifestyle in South Africa and
becoming acquainted with his African roots. A recent trip to a game
park with his aunt demonstrated that Africa had never left his heart.
He was really excited to see the wild up close for the first time. He
truly was a nature boy.
On this note we’d like to leave you with the essay he wrote on Monday,
his last day of school.. Our beautiful boy was so proud of what he’d
written and read in English class that day and my wife and I would
like to share his beautiful words with our friends all over the world.
As a young boy he knew instinctively why we surfers love what we do
and had the sensitivity to understood the subtle interplay between
aloha and respect.
My wife Carla and I will miss him more than the depth of the oceans
and the breadth of the sky. Hold your children tight and then hold
them tighter again. Love them with everything you have, every minute
of every second of every day. Listen to them and learn from them and
teach them the right way, and from us, teach them that they are not
invincible.
With our love and with our deep sadness,
Shaun and Carla Tomson
"Becoming a Man" by Mathew Tomson
Deep inside the barrel, completely in tune with my inner self, nothing
else matters, the hard wind and spit shooting past me from behind, my
hand dragging along the wall, the light shines ahead. My long hair
carried by the wind. My feet are in perfect placement on the board. As
I lean forward I feel myself speeding up getting faster and faster as
the barrel starts to close. I crouch down until my legs burn and I
then pull out to the whole line up cheering. My body tingles with joy
and happiness. I finally felt respected. I got back on my board and
paddled to the outside. I turned my head to the right to find Keone
and his crew paddling towards me. My joyful feeling disappeared as
fast as they came, my mouth went dry and I was truly afraid. He
stopped in front of me and raised his hand. I ducked, but no pain was
to come. I opened my eyes and put my hand out and firmly grasped his
hand. This was not a hand shake, it was a sign of respect. I looked
into his eyes and we paddled to the point together without saying a
word. The moment was much more powerful than any words could explain.
For the rest of the season I was allowed to take off on as many waves
as I wanted. I could have never imagined being past of "The Crew" but
I was and I will always be. That was the day I became a man.
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
deb...@comcast.net
Mathew, 15, a pupil at Clifton College in Durban, was found hanging by
his school tie at his home at Virginia, Durban North, last Monday.
Kathi
>On 6 May 2006 21:29:56 -0700, deb...@comcast.net scrawled:
>
>> Any word on what the "schoolboy prank" was?
>>
>>
>> Mathew, 15, a pupil at Clifton College in Durban, was found hanging by
>> his school tie at his home at Virginia, Durban North, last Monday.
>
>And how is that a prank?
Sounds like it may have been an episode of auto-erotic asphyxiation
gone awry. Too bad.
Stacia
His father's note makes it seem like the prank was sports related, but
it apparently wasn't. What the heck kind of prank would this be?
Hanging himself with his tie at home?
Stacia
deb...@comcast.net
it apparently wasn't. What the heck kind of prank would this be?
Hanging himself with his tie at home?
Sounds like a father unable to face reality. Similar to when
Hemingway's wife announced her husband died "cleaning his weapon".
Charlene
Autoerotic asphyxiation is more common than most realize, but I wonder
in this case what the real story was. I suspect we'll never know.
wd42
Alan Hope
>Any word on what the "schoolboy prank" was?
>Mathew, 15, a pupil at Clifton College in Durban, was found hanging by
>his school tie at his home at Virginia, Durban North, last Monday.
Gawd, yeah, we all used to do that at my school.
Is that what suicide is these days, a schoolboy prank gone awry?
Can you say "denial"?
--
AH
http://sour-grapes.blogsource.com
Alan Hope
We may not, but someone will. Auto-erotic asphyxiation has some
give-away signs, not to be confused with either a straight-up suicide
or a "schoolboy prank gone awry".
--
AH
http://sour-grapes.blogsource.com