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ABC Australian Story
Sons
Of Beaches
Monday
November 7, 2005 8pm
"My
grandmother's my inspiration, you know. She just only
ever wanted me to do good'' Koby Abberton
"I
think Koby and my brothers and our friends would be,
would be in jail or dead, you know. The beach is a
great escape and it's free.'' Sonny Abberton, brother
"Everything
was at stake because I brang myself out of such a
hard situation when I was a kid. I thought I might
go back to it'' Koby Abberton
"I
always comfort myself in the fact that if he dies
surfing, he dies doing something he loves'' Paul Chandler,
friend and community social worker '
Koby
Abberton has a life most people could only dream of;
unlimited travel, surfing the world's best waves and
plenty of money.
Over
the past five years, Abberton, 26, has made more than
200 international trips in pursuit of giant waves.
His
face adorns billboards worldwide. He's been on more
magazine covers than any other Australian surfer.
But his path to becoming one of the world's most successful
'"big wave'' surfers has been troubled.
He
grew up in a Housing Commission flat in the Sydney
beach suburb of Maroubra. His mother was a heroin
addict. The surf became his escape from drugs, poverty
and violence.
But
two years ago, Abberton became entangled in a court
case resulting from the death of a notorious Sydney
underworld figure Anthony Hines. His older brother,
Jai Abberton was acquitted of the murder earlier this
year even though he admitted shooting Hines.
But
although the worst was over for Jai Abberton, Koby
was still facing the prospect of jail, as police had
charged him with hindering their investigations. He
is now awaiting the verdict of the court on November
24.
If
convicted, he stands to lose much of what he has worked
to achieve including his lucrative sponsorship deals.
For
Further Information Contact:
Producer: John Stewart Ph 0409 776 579 and Julie Kimberley
Ph 0415 471 921
Executive producer: Deborah Fleming 0417 418 942
Publicist: Julie Thomson ABC TV Publicity on (07)
3377 5421
email: thomson.julie@abc.net.au
web: www.abc.net.au/austory
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