from USA Today

Veteran surfer Marcio Freire, featured in ‘Mad Dog’ documentary, dies riding waves in Portugal

by Natalie Neysa Alund

Brazilian big-wave surfer Marcio Freire died while surfing the central coast of Portugal Thursday, local officials confirmed.

Prior to his death, the 47-year-old man was practicing tow-in surfing on giant waves in Nazaré, the country’s National Maritime Authority told USA TODAY Friday morning.”The surfer had an accident while surfing, which left him lifeless,” the city wrote in an email to USA TODAY Friday.

According to the captain of the Port of Nazaré Mário Lopes Figueiredo, support staff on jet skis managed to get Freire to the beach in Nazaré, but attempts to revive him failed.

Lifeguards verified the victim was in cardiorespiratory arrest and immediately began CPR until first-responders arrived, according to a news release.

When they were unable to revive him, city officials said, a doctor pronounced him dead at the scene.

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