At one point during a recent morning surf session in Huntington Beach, a trio of friends joked about the lack of waves and small surf – but it was nice just to be out in the water, together, they all agreed.
But that feel-good moment came to an abrupt end when 26-year-old Chris Wessels’ tone turned, and he uttered: “I feel like I’m going to faint.”
Then he slumped over onto his surfboard. His heart had stopped.
Friends Jeffrey Weber and Shayla Bauer frantically paddled him to the sand, pleading with others to call 911.
Weber put his hands onto Wessels’ chest and pressed down. A scene from the popular television show “The Office” played in his head – in the episode, during a CPR class, actor Steve Carell pressed down on a dummy to the song “Stayin’ Alive” as a way to remember how to time the compressions.
“Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive,” the beat racing through Weber’s mind with each chest compression.
California dreamin’
Samantha Dellenoci and Wessels met while in college in Maryland. That was October 2019 and less than a year later, the pair moved to Orange County to start their lives together.
“We both had the California dream,” Dellenoci said. “Once we got here, we just made it our home.”
And part of that dream was learning to surf, hitting the waves two or three times a week between Newport Beach, Dana Point and San Onofre.
“We were just loving starting our day together in the ocean, that for us felt so spiritual,” she said. “It was just so grounding for us.”
The couple created a community here, meeting on Friday mornings at Blackies beach in Newport Beach with fellow surf enthusiasts, including Weber and Bauer, and making friends at Canopy Church in Costa Mesa.
The couple stayed active together, both running a half marathon in San Diego in December, exactly one month before Wessels’ heart stopped.
“He was in great shape and his heart withstood a half marathon,” Dellenoci…
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