So where do I start...
Let's see in 2014 around about May I managed to fracture my C7 vertebrae while surfing down in a beautiful part of Cape Town known as Cape Point Nature Reserve. It was a wet and stormy autumn day and myself and my mate Liam where super amped we loaded up our cars and raced off along the coast splashing through huge puddles listening to some energizing music probably mixture of punk, drum and base with a bit of hip hop knowing me.
We were in separate cars and doing a bit of low flying, taking in the scenery which is mind blowing beautiful no matter how often you see it.
I was really looking forward to getting into the water and filming this day,i have
always kind of seen myself as a guy that likes to be behind the lens and spreading the stoke...
But this never really worked out my camera memory conked out as i entered the surf zone, so turned around and swam back in to fetch a board and go surf.
We were at a spot called Black Rocks a pretty epic wave in the right conditions. Well being amped up I decided to take my smallest board out my 5.10 Ranga Quad fin with a bat wing tail.
This is really one of the most innovative boards I have ever owned works in everything from 2ft mush to 6ft plus perfect walls, as long as you have the power to paddle her in. I was way to psyched up to wait my turn in the line up so I went searching on the inside and managed to sneak one or two.
Eventually with out realizing it i was way to deep....
I remember taking off and not really making it into the wave it was to fast for me and my little board, so I stood up anyway and landed up going head first over the falls. I dived straight into a rock i just remember a flash of extreme pain then darkness. The next thing i know I'm bumping up against some rocks and the water is knee deep, I take a moment trying to gather myself slowly processing that all parts of me are functioning and just taking in that i was ALIVE I realized something was really wrong but was unsure what or where because my body was pumped up on adrenaline the so called fight or flight mode.
I slowly managed to stand check my board was okay as this is always of utmost importance, there was not a ding to be seen so super stoked.
I got to the beach by just kind of drifting in a body boarder came past asked if i was okay, I was like aah I'm not really sure.
Well I made it back to the car and in the process realized that i had done something really bad to my neck it was making some gnarly noises, I could not even lift my arms to get my wet suit off, Luckily the body boarder was there to help legend.
As soon as i got the suit half way down i engineered a kind of collar out of a blanket in my car which really helped. By know my fight was beginning to go out of me and I was heading towards shock.
I knew i needed to keep going as i was deep in the reserve and needed to get myself to help. Being the kind of character I am I'm normally pretty prepared for almost anything so smashed a future life shake concoction and a energy bar got the car packed and decided best plan was to head back to civilization, Kommetjie.
So I put my trusty Subaru wagon into drive, got my phone out first thing i did was record a voice note which i know is saved somewhere. I remember stating that i had hurt myself really badly and needed to get to hospital and i had some reason to believe that i was insured so I was amped to maybe make some money out of this! That never happened...
Know the whole time during this Liam was still out getting wave after wave with no idea of what I was going through you really never expect anything like this to happen. We so often think that we are indestructible until we are taught our lesson that we are quite fragile and need to respect our body....
So first person I get hold of is Gareth Morrison a solid KomSkom guy who is normally hanging around in the Kom "working" he say's. So I manage to get hold of him and head to his spot in old Kom, obviously i did not hear him properly because when i got there no one was home.
I was like WHAT a dick, so I dialed 112 our equivalent of 911 explained the situation and said I would be at the local pub the Green Room as that is were he was with Donovan having a cold one. I got there and they were like whats up? Not much i think I maybe "Broke" my neck not to worry though a ambulance was on the way.... At least I got some beer. Well Netcare 911 got there pretty fast I walked out to meet them first thing they asked was were is the victim?
I was like me it's me, they were shocked they immediately proceeded to immobilize me these ladies were so professional it was such a relief when they took over. I never had medical aid so we headed to Victoria hospital were they told us we needed to get to Groote Schuur in the City. Being strapped down onto a hard wooden board can get pretty uncomfortable after a while.
Let's see in 2014 around about May I managed to fracture my C7 vertebrae while surfing down in a beautiful part of Cape Town known as Cape Point Nature Reserve. It was a wet and stormy autumn day and myself and my mate Liam where super amped we loaded up our cars and raced off along the coast splashing through huge puddles listening to some energizing music probably mixture of punk, drum and base with a bit of hip hop knowing me.
We were in separate cars and doing a bit of low flying, taking in the scenery which is mind blowing beautiful no matter how often you see it.
I was really looking forward to getting into the water and filming this day,i have
always kind of seen myself as a guy that likes to be behind the lens and spreading the stoke...
But this never really worked out my camera memory conked out as i entered the surf zone, so turned around and swam back in to fetch a board and go surf.
We were at a spot called Black Rocks a pretty epic wave in the right conditions. Well being amped up I decided to take my smallest board out my 5.10 Ranga Quad fin with a bat wing tail.
This is really one of the most innovative boards I have ever owned works in everything from 2ft mush to 6ft plus perfect walls, as long as you have the power to paddle her in. I was way to psyched up to wait my turn in the line up so I went searching on the inside and managed to sneak one or two.
Eventually with out realizing it i was way to deep....
I remember taking off and not really making it into the wave it was to fast for me and my little board, so I stood up anyway and landed up going head first over the falls. I dived straight into a rock i just remember a flash of extreme pain then darkness. The next thing i know I'm bumping up against some rocks and the water is knee deep, I take a moment trying to gather myself slowly processing that all parts of me are functioning and just taking in that i was ALIVE I realized something was really wrong but was unsure what or where because my body was pumped up on adrenaline the so called fight or flight mode.
I slowly managed to stand check my board was okay as this is always of utmost importance, there was not a ding to be seen so super stoked.
I got to the beach by just kind of drifting in a body boarder came past asked if i was okay, I was like aah I'm not really sure.
Well I made it back to the car and in the process realized that i had done something really bad to my neck it was making some gnarly noises, I could not even lift my arms to get my wet suit off, Luckily the body boarder was there to help legend.
As soon as i got the suit half way down i engineered a kind of collar out of a blanket in my car which really helped. By know my fight was beginning to go out of me and I was heading towards shock.
I knew i needed to keep going as i was deep in the reserve and needed to get myself to help. Being the kind of character I am I'm normally pretty prepared for almost anything so smashed a future life shake concoction and a energy bar got the car packed and decided best plan was to head back to civilization, Kommetjie.
So I put my trusty Subaru wagon into drive, got my phone out first thing i did was record a voice note which i know is saved somewhere. I remember stating that i had hurt myself really badly and needed to get to hospital and i had some reason to believe that i was insured so I was amped to maybe make some money out of this! That never happened...
Know the whole time during this Liam was still out getting wave after wave with no idea of what I was going through you really never expect anything like this to happen. We so often think that we are indestructible until we are taught our lesson that we are quite fragile and need to respect our body....
So first person I get hold of is Gareth Morrison a solid KomSkom guy who is normally hanging around in the Kom "working" he say's. So I manage to get hold of him and head to his spot in old Kom, obviously i did not hear him properly because when i got there no one was home.
I was like WHAT a dick, so I dialed 112 our equivalent of 911 explained the situation and said I would be at the local pub the Green Room as that is were he was with Donovan having a cold one. I got there and they were like whats up? Not much i think I maybe "Broke" my neck not to worry though a ambulance was on the way.... At least I got some beer. Well Netcare 911 got there pretty fast I walked out to meet them first thing they asked was were is the victim?
I was like me it's me, they were shocked they immediately proceeded to immobilize me these ladies were so professional it was such a relief when they took over. I never had medical aid so we headed to Victoria hospital were they told us we needed to get to Groote Schuur in the City. Being strapped down onto a hard wooden board can get pretty uncomfortable after a while.
Too be continued...
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