Rallying around a swell guy

You can always tell the character of a man when it seems everything is going against him and the bond of a family rallies around.

Richie Lovett is a stand-up man and the surfing industry is now part of his extended family, as it rallied Tuesday at Mozambique, which had donated use of the venue along with appetizers for a packed audience to raise money for our fallen friend.

Richie, an Australian, recently underwent surgery in the U.S. for a rare cancer, clear cell chondrosarcoma.

The night was led off by fellow professional surfer Timmy Curran playing guitar and singing as well as he surfs.

This was followed by a surfboard auction, which included boards from legendary surfers such as Andy Irons, Joel Parkinson, Occy and Luke Egan.

The highest bid of the night went for a board donated by surfing’s queen of queens Lisa Andersen ? for a whopping $9,000.

Speeches were given by surfing honchos Dick Baker of OP and Paul Naude of Billabong.

What brought the crowd to its knees was when the man himself got up and gave a tearfully heartfelt thank you to his new extended family and his wife.

The spectacular evening raised more than $100,000 to help cover medical expenses.

It is in moments like these that we see just how one man can unite a whole industry to help a friend in need.

It reminded us all why we started surfing, and of the very first day that we experienced that joy.

Surfers are a family, and when Richie Lovett needed surfing the most his surfing family was right there for him as he continues in his quest to feel the joy of standing on a surfboard once again.

That makes me proud to call myself a surfer.

Peace.