GF Karoline Esser And Surfing Community Mourn The Death Of Brazilian Surfer Ricardo Dos Santos

Brazilian model Karoline Esser and some of the members of the surfing community have expressed their grief over the untimely passing of Brazilian surfer Ricardo dos Santos, who was shot just outside of his home in the town of Guarda do Embau. Dos Santos was 24 years old.

According to Globo.com, Dos Santos was shot three times by an off-duty police officer. The accident happened after Dos Santos reportedly confronted the police officer and another man. Dos Santos was immediately airlifted to a medical facility and underwent several surgical procedures. He was placed in an artificially-induced coma before succumbing to his injuries. It has been said that Dos Santos has died of multiple organ failures.

Shortly after his death, Esser, who was in a relationship with the professional surfer, took to the social media to express her emotions. She shared a photo of people paying tribute to Dos Santos.

“This was the time when my smile came back,” Esser captioned the photo. “I felt held by him all the time, he was with me.”

Esser has stood by Dos Santos during the time that he remained in the hospital. Esser even encouraged her followers on social media to donate blood to support Dos Santos in the surgeries that he was going through following the shooting incident.

Meanwhile, surfing world champion Kelly Slater and Gabe Medina also paid their tribute to Dos Santos. Slater regarded Dos Santos as “one of the great barrel riders” in an Instagram post. Medina, on the other hand, joined other people who had paid respect to fellow surfer.

Fellow Brazilian surfer Adriano de Souza wrote on Facebook that he lost a great friend. Australian Mick Fanning, also known as “White Lightning” also took to social media to express his condolences and prayers for Dos Santos’ family.

Dos Santos has started surfing at an early age of seven. He gained prominence in the world surfing circuit when he defeated 11-time world champion Slater, Jordy Smith, and Taj Burrow in the Billabong event in Tahiti in 2012. In November 2014, Dos Santos was featured on the cover of Surfer Magazine.