Surfer Sunny Garcia is hospitalized in intensive care, World Surf League announces
Hawaiian surfing star Sunny Garcia has been hospitalized, the World Surf League revealed Monday night on Twitter.
The league did not offer any details on why he is in the intensive care unit at a Portland, Ore., hospital.
Garcia, 49, won the WSL championship in 2000, when the league was known as the Assn. of Surfing Professionals, and has claimed a record six Triple Crown of Surfing titles. He has been inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame at Huntington Beach and the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
“Sunny has always been a great champion of surfing, both in and out of the water,” the WSL said in its tweet. “Our prayers are with him and his loved ones at this deeply challenging time.”
Garcia has been open about his battle with depression.
“I have a incredible life surrounded by people that love and care for me, and I get to travel to beautiful places to surf and meet different people from all over the world but I can tell you when I get down that none of that matters,” Garcia wrote in a March 20 Facebook post. “I just feel like nothing or anyone can help me at the particular time so I just keep sharing my feelings hoping that it helps any of you out there that suffers from anything and encourage you to reach out and talk to others like yourself because this life can really be beautiful.”
Sign up for our daily sports newsletter »
Twitter: @chewkiii
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
