When Dano Forte emerged from the water after two hours, he had a bit of a rash under his arm and some strain in his back.

But none of that mattered to Forte, who paddled into waves non-stop during a surf-a-thon fundraiser Tuesday morning for his friend Jay Thomas, who suffered a spinal cord injury last  March while surfing Huntington Beach Pier.

“I think everyone is going to be a little surprised,” Forte said of the number of waves he caught. “I was trying to get higher.”

Forte, who owns Dano Surfboards in Costa Mesa, was able to catch 80 waves during the surf-a-thon at Blackies, just north of the Newport Pier.

About 60 people pledged money for the cause, with the idea that they’d donate $1  or more per wave.

A total of $150 per wave was promised, meaning the surf-a-thon could have raised up to $12,000 to help Jay with costs such as medication, therapy, transportation and more.

Thomas was injured after heading down the line on a wave south of Huntington Beach Pier, where another surfer was paddling out past the breaking waves. In a split second decision, Jay dived forward – head first – to miss the surfer.

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