Hospitalized in Central America, Manhattan Beach surfer helped by GoFundMe
Local surfer and musician Alonso Vargas recently became ill while working as manager of La Barra AST Surf Camp in Nicaragua. With some help from his friends back home, a GoFundMe effort paid for his medical expenses. Photo courtesy AST Adventures
Alonso Vargas was living in paradise when he started to feel ill. Little did he know that it was only the beginning of what would become a multi-week struggle that would land him in intensive care.
But faced with mounting medical bills, the Manhattan Beach surfer and musician got a bit of good news: friends had rallied to raise money with a GoFundMe campaign. And in no time at all, his bills were paid for and he was on the road to recovery.
Vargas was working as the manager at AST La Barra, a surf camp in central Nicaragua when he began feeling woozy and exhausted earlier this month. A diabetic, Vargas was suffering from severe hypoglycemia. He went to a clinic near the coastal camp for treatment, but came down with an infection in his throat, and ended up in the ICU at Hospital Vivian Pellas in Managua, the capital.
The time in the ICU helped, but left Vargas with hefty medical bills. (Nicaragua has universal healthcare for its citizens, though not for visitors.) Dave Hall, president of the Redondo Beach-based AST Adventures, a surf tourism company that runs La Barra and other destinations elsewhere in Central America and in the South Pacific, found out about Vargas’ illness and launched a GoFundMe campaign to help defray the costs.
“I put it on Facebook, and just started tagging people, getting the word out to mutual friends of Alonso and mine to share it. Then it kind of went viral,” Hall said.
The response was overwhelming. In less than 24 hours, the GoFundMe raised $20,000. The money was enough to cover Vargas’ bills and help him buy supplies to manage his diabetes.
Vargas, Costa Rica native, moved to Manhattan Beach at 9 and graduated from Mira Costa. He worked at Spyder Surfboards and coached surfing at CampSurf, and could often be found surfing the south side of the Manhattan Beach Pier. This is his second season working at La Barra.
La Barra is a surf camp near Puerto Sandino. It features a barreling left point and is becoming a popular alternative to the increasingly crowded waves of southern Nicaragua.
“It’s like a playground. As tides change different waves start working. In one day, you can rotate all four waves, and surf a different wave every time,” Hall said.
Vargas did not respond to messages on WhatsApp. But a friend in the South Bay said that after leaving the ICU he went to recuperate with family in Costa Rica. Hall said that he was heading to Nicaragua next week, and hoped to be able to surf with Vargas when he got there. And an Instagram post from AST Tours earlier this week tagged Vargas and read “So glad to have you back.”
Along with surfing, Vargas is a talented musician, playing bass guitar, cajón and other instruments in several local groups over the years. Adam Lawson, who plays with Vargas in the Lucky Ones, heard about his bandmate’s illness and instantly got involved.
“I was super stoked to be a part of it,” Lawson said. “Such outpouring of support, I’m sure it felt great for him. It shows you how loved he is, with everybody in the South Bay surf and music scenes pulling together for him.”