Lewis Dunton
Lewis Dunton Surfer, Footballer, DJ and friend to all (especially the lonely or the shy) passed away on February 10th 2005.
He lost his life to carbon monoxide poisoning having taken the embers of a supper bonfire into his tent to keep warm. He was on a beach in Morocco where he was surfing.
Surfing had been Lewis’ life and had taken him all over the world. Football, cricket, music and girls also featured strongly. When not in the water he could often be found DJing somewhere. On a trip home from Australia he had a stopover in South Korea which became a six month spell teaching little Koreans English..
Those kids loved him (see tribute below). Lewis was a warm hearted, kind, considerate man who loved life and loved people. The respect in which he was held is best illustrated by some of the tributes paid when his death became known. The sadness we, his family, feel is in that after all his adventures in strange places he should die from something like carbon monoxide poisoning.
Please be aware of the danger of CO especially with used barbeques in enclosed spaces.
RIP Lewis.
Loved always
Where do you start? I can’t believe it’s real. Whenever you read something like this they say whoever it is will be missed. Well that’s not strong enough for me because me and everyone who was fortunate to be able to call Lewis a friend has lost a brother. Someone that you might not see for a while but when he turns up at your doorstep with his bag and that look on his face, you know good times were ahead, that’s how he lived always looking for happy days!!
Lewis was one of the original surfers in Southbourne, Bournemouth when I was a grom, already cruising to Croyde in his split screen and dragging along anyone who could afford the petrol.
There are a few things that are getting me through this. Firstly Lewis died peacefully doing something he loved to do, surfing in the sun. Second Lewis lived his life and three, all the good times we shared!!.
Adios Amigo RIP
Lewis really was a very special friend and I think we can all learn that time is so precious and we should grab every minute we have and have as much fun and love and laughter as we can. Make the best of every moment. I loved the way Lewis made even popping to the shops for some milk an adventure. Why not stop and gather up a few people for quick game of footy on the way and make some new friends!
I had so many great adventures with Lewis over the years from hitch hiking, surfing, working and raving in Australia to moving house in England. Yes he even made moving house an adventure! As he made us stop with the loaded panel van in Blandford for the night as it was the Blandford Reggae Festival, I slepped with my head on the fridge in the back and Lewis and I kept warm by wrapping ourselves in the thin packing blankets! After getting down to some serious Blandford Reggae that is!
Your friend always Mat (Mat Brown).
Dear Mr and Mrs Dunton
The year before last I was on the internet and I decided to see if I could contact Lewis as I had not heard any news of him in years. I was greatly saddened and shocked to come across a BBC report about his death in Morocco. As you know the last time I saw Lewis was in 2001, seven years ago-but he has always been an important influence in my life.
I am very glad to have met such a wonderful human being and to have shared some great travel adventures and personal memories. He really was a unique and warm hearted individual.
I cannot begin to understand the loss you must feel as I now have two children of my own, but you should both be very proud for raising such a good man.
When I first met Lewis he was visiting the school I was working at; and that he consequentially ended up working at as well. He had no intentions on staying in Korea and didn’t seem to be too pleased to have left the surf of Australia. I convinced him that it was a good place to work and that there was good money to be made-and I invited him to a party I was having that evening. He came to my party and we talked all evening-he was so interesting because for such a young man he had been to so many places and had so many stories to tell (and he told his stories with such gusto and humour). Anyhow, as you know he took the job at the school and once the Koreans got over his hair they learned to love him. All the Korean teachers called him “the gentleman”.
While we were living in Seoul he always made friends wherever he went. He would always make pals with the Djs at the bars we went to or join in on a football game that we would happen to pass on a walk home. He could stop traffic with his red dreads and orange sun-glasses riding through a heavily crowded street on a skateboard. Seoul had never seen anything like him.
I remember when I flew to Sri Lanka to meet up with him on one of his surf trips. He was completely in his element in a small coastal town called Unuwatuna. He met me at the airport and we drove to the town together. He had only been there for about three or four weeks, but it was as if he had lived there his whole life. We walked through the small town and he knew most of the villagers we passed and was already speaking phrases in Sinhalese! Then he ran over and joined in on a cricket game the local boys were playing (using a stone as a ball-Lewis made it a personal goal to see that he got them a proper ball before his trip was up). He really blew me away.
I am honestly a better person to have met him.
Sincerely TL
Boscombe Surfers
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