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Standup paddlers hit the beach to honor Steve Adler, raise awareness of aortic dissection in Long Beach

by in News

  • Paddlers race into the water at the start of the Adler Paddler event Sunday, March 17, 2019 at Alamitos Bay in Long Beach. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

  • Teva Fourcade of Huntington Beach gets an early start to the day at the Adler Paddler event, Sunday, March 17, 2019, at Alamitos bay in Long Beach. The event is in its 9th year of raising funds for Paddle with Purpose which raises awareness of Aortic dissection. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

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  • Paddlers show up early Sunday morning at Alamitos Bay to participate in the Adler Paddler event, March 17, 2019 in Long Beach. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

  • Paddlers round the Paddle with Purpose bouy as they participate in the Adler Paddler event at Alamitos Bay Sunday, March 17, 2019 in Long Beach. Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

  • Paddlers line up and get ready to race at the Adler Paddler event Sunday morning at Alamitos Bay, March 17, 2019 in Long Beach. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

  • Amy Yasbeck speaks to the crowd at the Adler Paddler event about Ritter’s Rules which are life-saving tips about thoracic aortic dissection, the condition that killed her husband John Ritter, along with Steve Adler, in hopes to prevent this from happening to anyone else. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

  • Paddlers line up at the start of the Adler Paddler event at Sunday morning, March 17, 2019 at Alamitos Bay in Long Beach. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

  • Hundreds take to the water at Alamitos Bay to participate in the Adler Paddler event Sunday, March 17, 2019 in Long Beach. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

  • Hundreds take the water at Alamitos Bay to race in the Adler Paddler event Sunday morning, March 17, 2019 in Long Beach. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

  • Paddlers take to the water of Alamitos Bay to compete in the Adler Paddler event Sunday morning, March 17, 2019 in Long Beach. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

  • Amy Yasbeck, left, creates Ritter Rules artwork with kids at the Adler Paddler event which brings awareness about thoratic aortic dissection, the disease that took her late husband John Ritter. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

  • Paddlers make their way into the finish line during the Adler Paddler event at Alamitos Bay Sunday, March 17, 2019 in Long Beach. Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

  • John Gabriel of Long Beach paddles in first on the short course of the Adler Paddler event Sunday morning, March 17, 2019 at Alamitos Bay in Long Beach. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

  • Paddlers arrive eary to Alamitos Beach to participate in the Adler Paddler event Sunday morning, March 17, 2019 in Long Beach. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)

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The Ninth Annual Adler Paddler, an enduring tribute to surfboard glasser, standup paddle racer and former Long Beach resident Steve Adler, drew scores of paddlers to Long Beach’s shoreline on Sunday, March 17.

Adler died on the floor of his surfboard glassing business in Westminster in 2010. The cause: Aortic dissection, the same ailment that killed actor John Ritter.

Adler’s friend Jodie Nelson, of Surfside, hosts the event each year to honor her cohort and to encourage others to know their family’s medical history and to get tested.

Nelson created the nonprofit Paddle with a Purpose to raise awareness about the condition.