What is your worst surf injury?

General Discussion
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[quote="$1"]

hmm how come we never hear of gerry lopez or laird (or greg noll back in his day) getting seriously messed up like you guys given the type of surf they regularly go for?

plain dumb luck ? or under heaven's protection? hehe

cheers,

[/quote]

As already mentioned, Lopez took a fin up the okole at Pipe. There's a great article written by Lopez in an old issue of "Water." It may be in his book "Surf Is Where You Find It" which is a collection of stories told (written) first hand by Lopez. It's great read by the way.

My worst injury was at Ala Moana back in the mid 80's. Early morning, sun wasn't up yet, pulled up into a barrel looking out at Magic Island. I stalled pulling in, but the board hung up, so instead of coming out, the lip collapsed on me driving me and my board into the bottom. I came up feeling pain at my belt line and put my finger inside a quarter sized hole! Turns out the nose of my trusty Tom Nellis had gored me!  Had to stay a week in Queen's Medical after they discovered and repaired a perforated small intestine. Found out several months later from some buddies that were in med school  that I was lucky I was in my 20's, that leaky intestines cause a lovely disease called peritonitis  which at that time (maybe still is?), was fatal in people over 50 something like 99% of the time.

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Hey BB., must have gone though plenty physical therapy. I’m a carpenter by trade and worked with a right handed guy that cut off his left thumb. He taught himself to hold a handful of nails (pre nailgun age) roll and finger them for nailing. Where there’s a will…

Hey Huck, you’re in the trades, lots of war stories associated with building, huh?

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[quote="$1"]

Hey Huck, you're in the trades, lots of war stories associated with building, huh?

[/quote]

Nah, not really.  In my work, as in my surfing, I tend to be pretty cautious (just ask everysurfer - he's like Hey Huck, watcha doin' over there, the waves are over here hahaha - I'm like: I'm studying the lineup from here before I take off LOL).  No serious accidents on my jobs!  Well, one time a roofing sub had a guy put two arms in a bucket of hot tar - that was not pretty.  Skin came off almost immediately.  Yecchh.  Took him a year of rehab before he came back to work!

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Huck, Back in the days of a strong union, working big jobs, tracts, high rises, you see just about everything if you’re around long enough. Saw a guy cut his entire hand off working on the wooden rollercoaster at Magic Mtn. in so. cal. Fortunately, I’ve had no serious injuries on any of my jobs either. Seen a few hot tar injuries also. Don’t know what the protocal is now, but the hospitals used to leave the tar on until it came off by itself.

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February 1990, Long Beach Island NJ.  I was surfing a 4' super clean nor-easter swell at Holyoke Street.  Water was probably 35 deg F / 2 deg C, air was hovering around freezing, and the off-shore wind was blowing around 15 knots.  Generally, perfect conditions with four people out.  Of course I had a full 5mm/3mm with attached hood, 7mm boots, and 3 mm lobster claws.  Was out for a couple of hours and I noticed that I was getting sluggish from the cold.  Took a late drop on a hollow wave, promptly fell off and get a fin to the top of the head as the board went over the falls.  I come up into a pink foamy sea and a cloud of red everywhere else.  Got myself to shore and couldn't see too well.  I'm beginning to panic as I run toward the car.  I come up on an old lady sitting on a bench, watching the sea.  Nice and peaceful.  She just begins to scream, which doesn't help my situation.  I get to the truck and all I see is red, sheeting blood pouring over my face.  My buddy runs up and gets me to the local clinic.  The doc is about to cut my wetsuit off!  No way.  I struggle to pull the thing over my head; there is a big puddle of blood in the hood and my white rash guard is red.  Anyway, they numb my head up, clean the fiberglass out of the wound, and stich me up.  I think I got a baker's dozen that day.  Doc writes me a prescription for a codine based pain killer and I head home after a burger and a cup of coffee.  I had a hot date that night and wasn't going to get loopy on some pain killer.  So I don't fill the prescription, my date dumps me, and I fall asleep on the couch.  I wake up at around 2 AM with my head feeling like it's been split open with an axe.  I have no pain killers, not even asprin.  That was my worst surf injury, but not by much :)

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I was eaten by a giant Tuna 12 years ago.Still trying to get out. Please help me.

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Heaven’s sake job, is that you ?  

x D

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    Howzit bill, Yes the bottom at Cabins is probably more dangerous than Pipe but it can get so good there and the way it changes with the swell direction is pretty cool. I lived on Ke Iki Rd and could see it from my porch so it was the closest break to our house seeing how Ke Iki doesn't really have surfable waves. How about a west swell and having to drop in and make your turn around the mushroom coral head, back in my days on the north shore not to many guys would surf log Cabins. I surfed it a lot with Rick Irons and the Lolley brothers when it got big, love that wave. I understand that before it was called Log Cabins it was called Dynamites.Aloha,Kokua

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Knock on wood, I havn’t had anything more than a scratch or two. I was lifeguarding one day and my buddy was out on his log, it was chest high and really lined up. I took a kayak out and asked if he would switch for a few waves and he said “okay” as a set was coming. I took the first wave on the kayak and he took the second on his board. I pull out of the wave on the beach and look back and he is perched on the nose. Then out of nowhere the board gets sucked up with the lip and clocks him right in the face. I knew when he came up grabbing his face it was bad. Ran up to the guard stand and got the EMTs on the scene and the med kit and got on it right away. His lip was cut all the way through for about and inch and half.

6336_518017542247_71600688_30827766_3396116_n.jpg

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It was my second surf of the day and I was paddling out at a reef break called Voodoo near Cronulla in Sydney on a big day when the reef sucked dry and 8’ of whitewater hit me. It was an unusual situation and I didn’t take the usual protection position so when my board sprung back on the tension of the leash, the tail or fin flew toward me,  I just managed to turn my head slightly so it hit the corner of my eye rather than straight into my eye. I was dizzy and disorientated by the blow to my head and stood up ankle deep on the reef.

I covered my good eye with my hand and could see nothing with my injured eye.  I thought I had completely lost one eye and was dazed and in shock. Even with the other eye everything was blurred and I could only see a couple of feet. I had to pull myself together and realise I had lost an eye but if I didn’t fight for survival I would lose my life.

The next wave swept me off my feet and into an even worse pedicament. I was under water with my body on one side of a V shaped rock and my board on the other. I waited, underwater, for the pressure of the incoming wave to reduce and then tried to lean forward and release the velcro on my leash but the rushing water prevented me from releasing it. Shit… one eye gone. starting to panic. Next wave hit, still under water, waited, and tried again to reach foward and release the velcro when the flow subsided. No deal, could’nt do it. With the shock and all I realised that was it, I probably would not even last for wave number three to subside, death was at hand.

And then, miraculously, the lease broke, severed by the action of the board on one side and my body on the other against a sharp bit of the rock. Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord.

But it was Voodoo, and I couldn’t see at all. I was pummeled onto rocks, into crevasses and holes and finaly onto shore, covered in blood, blinded, board long gone. Some surfers who had seen it all happen from the shore led my up to their car and drove me to the local hospital.

I had an anxious wait for three days worrying that my eye damaged permanently. It wasn’t but it  took about six months for my vision to return to normal.

Thats my worst experience surfing so far. The tear duct on my eye was permanently damaged and tears flow down my face even now.

Dave

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Rider, extra points for pictures.

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broken ankle from a botched air in Florida

hamburgered stomach from a bodyslam on the reef at Windmills on Maui

two weeks ago i shredded my other ankle on a heavy crash kiteboarding - what a kook!

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the brain damage I suffered from my first go out has resulted in

a subsequent life of surf addiction. Minor injuries dont hold a candle

to what was a very promising future as a hodad- car buff/politiko -

meglomanical - lawyer/billionaire pilot ,because of this I remain

married to the same woman,drive a junk car,have too many children

in an unfinished house , with salvage all over the yard,living hand to mouth

into ever lengthening life …

had I just said ‘‘no mom I don’t wanna go surfin’’

 

aloha from waipouli

…ambrose…

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Best one ever, Ambrose. It’s incurable not terminal.