SEAG surfing hero saves animals, too

Roger Casugay and partner Lisa Verweij with one of the dogs they rescued.

TACLOBAN CITY—Roger Casugay’s heroic feat of saving a fellow surfing competitor, never mind that it cost him a possible podium finish, is worth more than all the gold medals in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

In the middle of the competition on Friday, Casugay chose to come to the rescue of an Indonesian during the gold-medal match of the Men’s Longboard event in San Juan, La Union.

“In the midst of the men’s longboard open competition for surfing, Indonesia’s Arip Nurhidayat broke his leash and was swept away by the waves,” a post in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games Facebook page said. “The Philippines’ Roger Casugay came to the rescue, setting aside the ongoing battle for the gold.”

Unknown to many, Casugay is also an animal rescuer.

Just last October, Casugay was in Calicoan Island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, for the second leg of the Philippine Surfing Championship Tour when he saw a dog with a broken hind leg.

After the competition, Casugay drove for three hours to this city to bring the emaciated dog to a veterinarian.

Casugay and his partner, Lisa Verweij, also save stray cats.

In her Facebook account on 22 October, Verweij posted: “A few days ago we found a very injured dog at the beach of Calicoan, Samar. Both his back legs fractured and open wounds. It was heartbreaking and so sad. Also very skinny, hungry and thirsty. Today I’m so grateful to say we were able to bring the dog to Tacloban (3 hours) drive. We found a rescue shelter who will take care of him and brought him to the vet. The leg(s) will be amputated.”

“Forever grateful to Hope and Haven 4-Paws Animal Rescue in Tacloban for taking care of this dog and give him a chance to live. So thankful. You’re doing amazingly good work and definitely can use more donations,” added Verweij, a student from the Netherlands who met Casugay in La Union when he taught her how to surf.

Lisa Verweij is a constant presence in Roger Casugay’s events.

As Casugay’s heroic feat in the SEA games was made known all over social media, the owner of the dog that Casugay saved in Eastern Samar posted a comment.

“Roger has a heart of gold he rescued our dog with broken back legs last month brought him to the vet in Tacloban 3 hours away and paid for his medical bills,” entrepreneur and designer Renée Patron posted.

The dog named Chuey was one of four strays eventually adopted by Patron, whose family is from Guiuan.

The men’s longboard event is postponed until further notice.