Loch Eggers passed at 55

[PonoBill]

I'm completely blown away by this. Loch was probably the scariest looking super nice guy I've ever met. I loved spending time with him. Smart, creative, funny, and kind (unless you were doing something stupid or thoughtless). Fantastic waterman with about any piece of equipment, but most remarkable with a SUP or a four-man surf canoe. He'd take that canoe anywhere, including Peahi when it was breaking big.

This is crazy. First Hunter (Loch's brother) died paddling his canoe, then Randy Hilen died after a wing foil session, now Loch has a heart attack on a hike. All great watermen, all super fit, all way too fucking young.

I loved that guy, he was an amazing human being and always encouraged me. I'm going to miss that guy, Maui will never be the same.

[clay]

Wow, sad and scary.

Did they get the jab?

[PonoBill]

I don't know. Given their personalities, I'd guess no for Hunter and Loch, possibly yes for Randy, but I don't know. I suspect a stronger connection is genetics and size. Big guys. We large dudes generally have a relative lifespan of a Bernese mountain dog. 

[eastbound]

what's "the jab"??

[PonoBill]

The Jab is the British term for inoculations which has been appropriated as a term for Covid vaccination. Clay is perhaps referring to a potential side effect of inoculation: Myocarditis and pericarditis. It's rare, but it happens. Of course, about 19 million people die of cardiovascular disease every year--jab or no jab, it's the most common cause of death in the US, but people with concerns about Covid vaccine frequently raise it as an issue. It's a relevant concern for young people, especially teenage boys since the frequency of death from COVID is so low in that cohort that the frequency of serious side effects is within an order of magnitude (but still almost ten times lower than serious COVID effects). The numbers diverge dramatically with age. Covid kills geezers, meaning people over 40. People who develop myocarditis and pericarditis generally recover with no discernable effect, though no one has good numbers for what the long-term effect of either disease is for young people, so caution is not unreasonable though long Covid appears to be much worse. I have two relatively young friends who have it, and currently "long" looks like an understatement.

You might wonder why I know this. Besides just innate curiosity, my daughter, who works in the medical field and inherited my love for scientific research decided not to have her youngest boy vaccinated. We had a long discussion about the merits and I wound up reading a lot more about it than intended. My grandson wanted to visit us, but I said no. He might not kaack from Covid but my wife and I certainly could. So we treated him like a plague rat.

[ninja tuna]

Tragic to hear.

I did find this in researching about them.  It states both had the vaccines and Loch even had a booster.

https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/my-friends-are-dying-of-heart-attacks

[surfcowboy]

He was a great waterman. He died of one of the leading causes of death for men his (our) age. Let's focus on his memory and water skills.

Headmount had some great stuff to say about him. He was a badass in the water from all accounts.

[PonoBill]

Uber badass, and a great guy. There is an unfortunate tendency for male athletes in their 50s to die of heart attacks. The only good thing you can say about that nasty statistical spike is that it used to be 45. There's no clear explanation for it though my GP doc says he thinks its the age when men expect their capabilities to be as good as they were in their 20s. When you hit 60 you pretty much know it's not. There's another spike at retirement and the cause for that one is a bit more obvious. 40 years ago it was a lot worse. I think the social security payout was based on the idea that few people would survive retirement.