Surfers rally for one of their own rescued from ocean

Trey Martin bought his first surfboard from Mark Allison when he was 10 years old.

“He’s a legend,” said Martin, a 38-year-old resident of Myrtle Beach who’s known the Surf City Surf Shop owner ever since he can remember. “A lot of people say they’re touched by other people, but Mark -- it’s almost like he sculpted our lives.”

Martin and others are rallying behind Allison, who was rescued from the ocean while paddle boarding Tuesday morning after friends say he had a heart attack. Fellow surfers took him out of the water and started CPR, and Allison was taken to Grand Strand Medical Center, where he was listed in fair condition.

On Wednesday morning, people who know Allison had gathered on the windy beach less than a mile from Allison’s store, which has become a fixture of the local surfing community.

Some of them were there for the waves, some were there to watch the surfers, but nearly everyone of them had a story to tell about Allison.

Martin said he bought his first surfboard from Allison and used to hang out at his shop in high school.

“He always took care of all of us,” said Martin. “When we were in high school working minimum wage jobs and couldn’t really afford a board, he’d work with us and let us do layaway programs for us, and just pay him as we could. None of us would be the same if it wasn’t for him.”

At 14-years-old, Martin was going to boarding school in Arden, North Carolina and had the opportunity to take a class trip to San Diego. He said Allison sent him a new surf board for the trip.

“He was like ‘If you’re going to San Diego, you’ve got to have a board,’” he said. “He went out of his way to pack it so it wouldn’t get damaged and shipped it out there.”

Tim Holt, a local pastor, said Allison does a lot for kids in the community.

“He gave my son his first surfboard,” Holt said. “We walked in the shop and he asked Jason, ‘you got a board?’ He said ‘not yet sir’ and Mark gave him a board.”

Holt said his congregation is praying for Allison.

“We all just want to see him back in the water and back with his family,” he said.

Fifteen-year-old Billy Leckie has also known Allison his entire life and was one of the surfers who called 911 for Allison.

After surfing Wednesday morning, Leckie headed to Surf City Surf Shop to sign a “get well” card for Allison.

“Pretty much every surfboard I’ve bought came from his shop,” he said. “Everybody loves it. Every time I walk in there, it’s just ‘Hey Billy.’ He’ll take the shirt off his back and give it to you. He’s just that kind of person.”

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Surfers rally for one of their own rescued from ocean."