The Maroochydore Surf Life Saving Club normally reserves its paddle-out ceremonies for life members or outstanding volunteers.
But this week, hundreds gathered on the beach to remember a 10-year-old boy who had never set a club record.
Kurtis Scott is one of only a handful of children to die each year in Queensland whose death is a medical mystery.
His father Troy Scott said the family was still waiting to find out how the primary school student died at home on July 15.
"It was a very sad day," Mr Scott said.
"I received a phone call off Kurtis's mum, Sharni, and she told me that he wasn't breathing and they'd called an ambulance, so I headed straight over there."
Mr Scott said a LifeFlight doctor came that morning to help paramedics, but his son could not be saved.
No sign of health problems
Kurtis had no previous health conditions and Mr Scott said he had been "tearing it up" at football training the previous night.
He said the family had endured a painful wait for medical examiners in other states to help uncover the cause of death.
In the 2019-20 financial year, 378 children died in Queensland, but only three over the age of one died of undetermined causes, according to the Queensland Family and Child Commission.
"There's X amount of doctors in Australia that are smart enough to work that out.
"It will happen and we'll find out eventually."
Memories of a kind, inclusive child
Those who knew Kurtis remember an unrelentingly nice boy who loved his sport.
"He touched a lot of people," said Sunshine Coast councillor and Maroochydore Nippers coordinator Jason O'Pray.
"Everyone loved him to bits."
The year 5 student was a nipper, played Australian rules football, cricket, and trained in swimming and karate, prompting an outpouring of grief across Sunshine Coast sporting clubs.
Mr Scott said the sporting groups and his son's school, Stella Maris, had been a "phenomenal" support to him and the rest of the family.
Those communities have also raised more than $60,000 for the family, which has paid for a funeral, counselling and a seat and garden memorial at the school.
Mr Scott has been trying to understand why his son's death has touched so many people.
"It's really fascinating because I've always had that feedback even before this, and mums would come up – especially with daughters – and say, 'Oh my God, my daughter loves Kurtis in class,'" he said.
Former teacher Dennis Quinn described Kurtis as a lovely, patient boy who always included outsiders.
"He would go and look for those guys who were struggling to kick the football and he would stay with them and he would help them," Mr Quinn said.
"He was the kind of guy you liked to hang out with at school — he was fun."
For Mr Scott it's the little things that reduce him to tears — like seeing a drink bottle in the fridge or his younger son, Henderson, playing with Lego by himself.
He said the memorials like the paddle-out at the surf club, as well as a wake at the football club, had enabled him to keep his boy's memory alive.
"We were so lucky, we got 10 years with him," Mr Scott said.
