Surfing community pays it forward to 'young blue with no wetsuit'

Chris Demajo and Cameron Johnston were surfing the break where they saw Cronulla High School year 7 student Cooper Moores-Sipos on the beach.

Everyone else was wearing full-body wetsuits, but not Cooper.

"It was super windy and rainy and there was this little kid freezing in shorts," Chris said.

"I asked him where his wetsuit was . . . he said he didn't have one.

"I made a promise I'd get him one."

The boys went their separate ways but days later Chris hit Facebook with a post to try to track down the "young blue with no wetsuit".

"It went viral — everyone shared it," Chris said.

"People contacted me wanting to chip in."

On board were surfer Wade Austin, Howie Howell from Triple Bull, Luke Carr and Jesse Beard of Cronulla Fitness, and Channtel McPherson from Bread and Butter clothing.

They also pitched in for Cooper's Cronulla Boardriders Club fees.

Cooper was at school when he heard the surfers were looking for him.

"It's heaps nice," he said.

"I'd only been surfing for a few months . . . I had a $5 wetsuit from Vinnies but it had holes in it."

His mother Tracy said she was blown away by the gesture, which happened by chance to be on the week of Pay It Forward Day — an annual event to give back.

"It was great to see the boys take him under their wing and get his confidence up," she said.

"I hadn't gotten him a new wetsuit because he hadn't been surfing much, just doing Nippers.

"He's a great kid," said Cronulla Sharks Boardriders president Cameron Johnston.

"It wasn't that he couldn't afford it, it was that he was so keen to surf, that got us.

"It's what we're about, we look out for everyone. If we see a kid doing it hard, we make him part of the family.

"The best part of this whole thing was just to see him smile — that's reward enough."

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