Touching tributes have been pouring in, remembering Jae Haydon, the Australian musician killed while out surfing in Bali’s Uluwatu on Monday morning.
On a Facebook page, “Jae Haydon – A Tribute,” created by family and friends to remember the 34-year-old, Haydon is described as a “free spirit” and someone who “brought incredible joy to loads of people in this world.”
Other posts recognize the Woonona man as “an awesome singer”, but his adventurous nature also shines through on the Facebook page with memories highlighting his ability to ‘shred’ on a snowboard.
Even more tributes can be found on a GoFundMe page, “Our Amazing friend Jae Haydon,” set up to raise funds to repatriate the young man’s remains back to New South Wales and help “give him the best send off and celebration of life.”
In just one day, the fundraiser has raised over $58,000, surpassing its goal of $50,000.
“Thank you for making our wedding day the best day of our lives. We were lucky enough to have the most talented, kind and humble person share in our day and we are forever grateful,” write ‘Court and Jazz Hair.’
Haydon did solo acoustic performances at weddings, parties, and bars and had been a member of the punk band Lost in Line.
While many donors seem to have shining memories of Haydon, a number of people claim to not have known him but say that his story has resonated with them.
“I never met Jae. But from all the comments that I’ve read he seems like an unbelievable human. Such a story I felt like I had to help. RIP,” writes Jackson Kitzler.
Haydon had been out surfing at Uluwatu, one of Bali’s most famous surf breaks on Monday morning when he was knocked off his board by a wave, said Ketut Ipel, the coordinator for lifeguards in Badung Regency.
“The victim’s body has been found. The victim had died when he was found,” Ipel said, as quoted by Yahoo7.
“The victim was surfing at around 7.30am when a strong wave suddenly hit him. His surfboard was found broken.”
Haydon’s broken surfboard, snapped in half, reportedly washed up at Uluwatu Beach. A Facebook post of the broken board that’s since been deleted, quickly went viral, with the OP trying to track down the fallen owner’s identity.
His friends have said that the board snapped after a wipeout with waves reaching 4.5 meters. They attempted to evacuate him and pull him onto another board, but he got pulled off in the powerful whitewash.
His body was reportedly found about 12 hours after the surfboard, at Impossibles, another nearby surf break.
