A Facebook post about an act of kindness within the Sunshine Coast surfing community has gone viral, surprising the grateful mum who shared the story.
Genevieve Aslett wanted to publicly thank “Kayles”: a young woman who tracked down her son Levi, 9, with a card and $100 cash this week after breaking his board in a surfing accident a month ago.
Mrs Aslett wrote on the Sunshine Coast SurfCheck page on Wednesday: “I would just like to shout out to the surfer who gave my son this card and money this morning at Neill Street. I do not know who you are and I have never met you but you are an absolute amazing human! … We cannot thank you enough, not only for the gift but also for showing my son what it means to be a good person. He is so unbelievably grateful and thankful.”
By late Thursday, the post had 1500 likes, 135 comments and 45 shares.
Natalie Joy Howard commented: “This is amazing and so beautiful in our current time.”
Michael Thomas added: “What a legend. Being nice to each other pays off. Well done both parties.”
Matt Clements said: “Very cool story to hear instead of the usual board stolen or drop ins etc. There’s always better days to be had in the ocean vs the shite ones.”
And this from John “Snapper” Thurtell: “In these uncertain times, it’s great to see there are some decent people who care for others still in this world. You made my day.”
Mrs Aslett told Sunshine Coast News that Levi and his dad Gary had gone down to their favourite local surf break at Neill St, Dicky Beach, on Wednesday before starting online schoolwork for the day.
“I was at home with our other two girls. He (Levi) just busted through the door, ‘Mum, mum, mum. Look what I got’,” she said.
“I read the card and was almost in tears. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.
“I had to share my story. My husband has seen her (Kayles) a few times after the accident and every time he’s seen her, she’s apologetic and she was just really upset at what happened.”
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Levi, who has been surfing since he was four, is over the moon about the unexpected gesture following the initial encounter about six weeks ago at the same beach.
“I can’t describe it,” the Talara Primary College student said.
“I just didn’t know what to say. It was unbelievable.
“It was just an accident and I didn’t think that would ever happen.
“She didn’t drop in on me. I caught this wave one way and my dad caught another one at the same time the other way. We were paddling back out together and she caught the wave.
“I had to bail. I didn’t have anywhere to go and she couldn’t turn the board.
“She rode into my board accidentally.”
The collision took a chunk out of the side of Levi’s board and ended his surfing session for the day because the board was unsurfable.
“(Kayles) immediately then came out of the water, too, and approached Levi and was very apologetic,” Mrs Aslett said.
“My husband said to her, ‘Don’t worry about it. It’s just an accident. We can get it fixed. It’s not a problem’.
“They saw her once again after the accident and she was again so apologetic and so sorry.”
Mrs Aslett said that, as a mother, she wanted to thank Kayles personally.
“My whole point to that post was obviously to share that good people are out there still and give everybody hope again. It is such testing times and we need stories like this.
“I’ve never met her. I don’t know what she looks like but I just wanted to say thank you to her.
“She not only gifted him money but also taught him a huge life lesson and told him what life is really all about.
“Good karma is going to come to her 10-fold.
“Always be kind, always be thoughtful and always have gratitude. This little thing just confirmed what we teach our children anyway.”
Levi’s family was able to buy a suitable secondhand board after searching for about a week.
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“We downsized him. The board before was a 5’6 but he’s surfing so well,” Mrs Aslett said.
“The 5’4 Deathless was sold by a surfing family. They had just upgraded their children’s boards.
“We actually ended up getting a bargain.
“(Levi) surfs every single day. His love is the ocean.
“We don’t have any backup boards. So, to have had a bargain like that was great.”
Levi was so stoked with Kayles’ gift that he has decided to “pass it forward” and put the money towards an Xbox video gaming console for his sister Stevie, 7.
