Surfer Mikala Jones, who is known for capturing photos and videos while riding inside waves, passed away at just 44 years old due to a tragic surfing accident that recently occurred in Indonesia, according to the Associated Press.
The outlet reported the man's father, Dr. John Jones, said that the fin of a surfboard slashed his son's femoral artery. "He was a humble artist. His pictures were incredible," Dr. John Jones remarked, according to the outlet.
Surf photographer Woody Woodworth noted that surfboard fins cutting people represents a common issue. "All the fins that I see are certainly sharp enough with the force of a wave, and pointy enough with the force of the wave, that slicing into somebody’s leg would be very easy," he noted, according to the AP.
Jones got into surfing at the young age of around seven or eight, the outlet reported. Later in life, he scored sponsors and ventured to surf locations in Tahiti, Fiji, South Africa, and the Galapagos Islands, according to the AP, which noted that photographers would snap shots of Jones and other surfers that would then be published in surf magazines.
In the '90s Jones started experimenting with capturing photos of himself, the outlet noted. Later after GoPros came out, he started utilizing them and even got sponsored by the business.
"Legend," surfing icon Kelly Slater recently wrote on what is now Jones' final Instagram post. Slater's recent comment also included a broken-heart emoji. Jones made the post back in May.
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