Jay Adams, Hall of Fame Skateboarder and one of the original members of the famed Zephyr skate team of the 70's, died in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, early Friday morning.
Adams, 53, a former drug addict had allegedly been sober for months and had no previous history of heart problems. His manager, Susan Ferris, says the skater died of a heart attack Thursday while on an extended stay in Mexico with his wife - a "long surfing holiday". They had been there for three months.
In a report via X Games, Adams' friends said he came in feeling sick after surfing early on Thursday, began having chest pains around midnight.
"His wife called us over in the middle of the night and we administered CPR until we could get an ambulance, and they kept working on him the whole way but he never revived," said Solo Scott, one of Adams' friends with him on the trip.
"I've had the good fortune of spending decades in this sport, and he was the purest form of skateboarder that I've ever seen," Stacy Peralta, a fellow Zephyr team member and director of the documentary film "Dogtown and Z-Boys," told XGames.com.
"He was literally skateboarding incarnate, and the genius of it was he wasn't the best at anything, he just was it. I've said before that he was the original virus that got so many people hooked on skateboarding. Now the original spore is gone, but that virus lives on in so many others. Jay's passing reminds all of us and reaffirms that we're connected. We're all rolling down the sidewalk together."
Peralta confirmed the news of Jay's death on his Instagram captioned: "I just received the terribly sad news that Jay Adams passed away last night due to a massive heart attack, send your love,"
Last month, another member of the "Z-Boys", Shogo Kubo died at 54, following a surfboard accident in Haiwaii.
Jay Adams is survived by his wife, Tracy, and two children.
