Beloved surfer, skater, Duane Harris, 37, dies

A wave of shock and sorrow has gripped the surfing community at home and overseas as news surfaced that beloved surfing and skating fixture Duane Harris died suddenly on Wednesday morning.

Harris, 37, a roofer by profession of Bagatelle Terrace, appeared to have taken his own life, according to preliminary police investigations.

Life-long friends have grappled to come to terms with Harris’s sudden death even as they described a beloved brother and friend of more than two decades.

Fellow surfer Chris Alleyne told Barbados TODAY, he practically grew up with Harris and it was hard to contemplate that his buddy was gone.

“Duane is someone who would give you the shirt off his back, Duane would suffer first to help you,” said Alleyne. “I have surfed countless hours with Duane, hundreds and thousands of days, I’ve dived with him. I knew he had my back. I knew if anything was to happen to me he would take care of me.”

Alleyne described Harris as a “water man”, skilled at surfing and respected at home and abroad for his passion for the surf.

“He has been a lifelong surfer and made a lot of friends through surfing from all over the world,” he added.

“Yesterday, I received countless calls from all over the world about Duane. From Denmark, Sweden, Brazil, England, California and the Eastern US Seaboard, all over the place.”

Alleyne’s brother, Alan who lives abroad, also remembered the short time he shared with a friend gone too soon.

Harris, he recalled, was not only a popular surfer but an outstanding member of the skating community.

Alan Alleyne said: “When it came to the surfing community or the skating community he never bat an eye to help anyone and he would go out of his way all the time and go above and beyond to help any of us, anything that anyone needed.”

Describing his pal as a “a great people’s person’’ and the “prize of any party”,  he chuckled as recalled Harris as a big ambassador for Barbados who often took care of friends he sent to the island, making sure they had great experiences.

“I am deeply saddened by this loss and I will be visiting Barbados for his funeral,” he told Barbados TODAY. “We have really lost an amazing gentleman in both the surfing and the skateboarding community.”

Close friends, Gabrielle and Paul Wilson said they are heartbroken as they remember Duane Harris as a reliable, hard worker, caring friend and son.

“We could always count on his help at the skatepark or on various projects,” the couple said in a statement. “He was loved and respected in the bodyboard, the surfing, the skateboard communities. Duane was always present; he was generous of his time and supportive of his many friends and family. There was never a dull moment with him; he was on all occasions ready to have fun and to enjoy life to the fullest. He will be missed by many in Barbados and worldwide.”
(sandydeane@barbadostoday.bb)