Well this thread has really nailed the Swellnet demographic. I expect to see some appropriate advertising in the very near future (Got my [good] eye on one of those fold-up canes with the in-built flashlight advertised on telly by James Evans Snr off Good Times).

Not to be too glib and/or facetious (moi?), this thread has brought to mind some of the positive poeticisms of the artist and philosopher Stephen Patrick Von Mozza.

"See the luck I've had...can make a good man turn bad"

"Chipped tip ugly-stik
on a rock-ledge desolate...
will Nature make a man of me yet?"

(I may have creatified that last one a tad)

Hang in, comrades.

Hey Stu, just echoing everyone else's good wishes here. Very much on a similar wavelength to dromodreamer, mundies and davetherave.

My next door neighbour at the holiday house, Barry McGuigan, surfed competitively up to his 80 years old. He died a couple of years ago but kept it together right up till the end. He was also heavily into yoga all his life.

Based on that I decided that I would like to be surfing as long as possible. Also, I'm just the worst non-active person you can imagine. Been involved in one or more sports all my life since growing up across the road from Hurstville oval. We would be out there every afternoon after school playing whatever was going. Have carried that through my adult years, surfing, squash, golf, touch footy etc, moving from one to the next as I get older and interests change. I'll just be the worst person to be around if I'm not moving freely.

Now 54, and in the last 5 years or so have been actively pursuing ideas around what I need to do to remain active as long as I can. Fact is that as you get older, body maintenance is going to take up more of your time. Accept it and work on it. Make time, make it happen.

Osteos are an interesting profession. If you find a good one, they will probably spend half or more of your first session just talking, trying to get a feel for where you're at and what is happening in your life. There is much to be said for the link between emotional states and physical outcomes. On the other hand, not as much as some make out. I am definitely not an advocate of the Louise Hay school of thought, that everything physical has an emotional meaning to it, but there is something there.

I'd advise everyone to be constantly monitoring themselves, emotionally and physically. How is your posture, how straight is your alignment, how is your state of mind? Don't let things get too out of whack before doing something about them. Early intervention is the best remedy. Patience though is also a virtue.

Good luck out there. Currently on day 4 of a rather debilitating flu. Remedy, my body telling me I need a rest. Doing nothing for a week is not easy for me, but that's what the body is ordering.

Two stories with two useful lessons:

Back in the 70s zoomed down to a beach break I'd surfed at its best the week before - essentially a shorebreak with an angle creating powerful Kirra like waves. It was on again. On about my third wave I wiped out in the end section and being a bit excited pushed quickly off the bottom up to standing ready to race out an get another one. My 7ft pintail appeared in my line of sight for an instant at head height, tail first and hit me with the full force of a well stretched black rubber legrope just below my nose. I can't remember pain just the jolt. So I paddled out to the other guys in the water and asked if there was any blood. He said "not much". So I felt around and stuck my fingers right in to feel the top of my gums through the hole.
I freaked a bit and paddled in and jumped in he car to drive home and get stitched up. It was a neat, deep crescent shaped cut below my nose. On the way home my shoulder became stiffer and stiffer to the point I could barely drive. Only then did I realize that the fin of my board had hit with major force into my shoulder probably saving me from the tail smashing bones and teeth.
I was very annoyed at missing the surf. Thankful for the fin saving me and surprised at how painful injections are in the lip area.

The lesson - ever since I have never raced back to the surface after a wipeout if I am not sure where my board is. This has saved me from numerous bangs of various seriousness I am sure (sometimes I have heard the smack on the water above me as I paused that extra second or so).

Injury story 2
Same beach on a day like Mexican pipeline at about 4-6 ft. A unique swell with lots of long tapers peeling through a powerful inside shorebreak bank on a sunny day with warm offshore winds. Pretty much only me on the beach. Well on one wave I took off and did a smart arse hand drag in the lip above my head feeling the texture and imitating a shot of Butch Cooney from an Aussie titles at Burleigh that was in the mags way back in the 70s. Big mistake. The lip lurched suddenly catching my arm at full stretch and forcing it back over my shoulder straining the tendons badly. I tried to paddle and catch more waves but simply could not and had to leave one of the best days ever empty and drive home one armed. The lesson - keep your arms low or lowish in a natural position - lips are powerful and unpredictable can rip your arm back easily - that is unless you are way below the lip and a camera is catching the style move to make it worth the risk.

Stunet,

ZHENG GU SHUI ,

It's a Chinese ointment, works wonders . Check it out/ might just get you back in the water.

"Zheng Gu Shui translates literally as 'fix bones water'", or so say Wikipedia. Reckon I might try myself some of the water Lanky D. Thanks for the heads up.

Gotta say, there's been some incredible advice and encouragement in this thread. Great reading...

All we have to do is read the words we write. When I write of hope I believe in it. maybe not at the time, but then if i did, why did i write it?

Definitely I feel john john unrepresented in the illness that created him the most naturally gifted on tour. He is the surfing equivalent of rain man. who see's that? only the people on tour?

science experiment. Deny john john through injury or something else. Ask him if he is angry? Dissapointed or whatever?

Stu, a mates wife had spurs on her hip, took over a year and a second opinion to diagnose. A fairly simple op to remove them and she's as right as rain.

"Spurs on her hip!" giddyup cowgirl.

Had a surf at Cactus once. 3 out on a nice 3-4 ft day and 2 locals came out. One was an angry man and said "Fuck off touro" to me. I had very hurt feelings. "Don't worry, I'll keep out of your way" came my pussy reply. Didn't even have anyone to give me a reassuring cuddle back at shore so had to tough it out.

Not in the league of some f these but anyway....

Was having a surf with VelocityJohnno many years ago on a bonzer copy he made me. Took off on a very late and steep drop at a break that didn't fire up very often. Screwed up the takeoff and managed to get my leg caught between the back fin and side fins during the wipeout and was dragged 50 - 60 metres underwater with my leg between the fins. Every time I tried to free my leg, it felt like it would break so I remember just holding my breath hoping the whitewater would peter out at some point and that I wouldn't drown or break my leg in the process.

Finally popped up, managed to free my leg. No break, a big bruise and calf problems for the next 3 or 4 months. It really played with me mentally for quite some time later on every time I had a late take off to contend with.

.

I had to have a fusion at s1-l5 and an artificial disc put in at l5-l4 at 43 yo. I'd been pretty fckd for about 3 years before and had had back issues from about 25. From about 18 months post surgery I was back to about 90% ... surfing back hand slab barrels etc (not very well) mostly without restriction. Hardest part (in relation to surfing) has been unlearning all the protective behaviour I'd generated from years of worrying I was gunna do my back again. Lemme know if anyone wants to know anything about the surgery etc. :-)

I just remembered one, paddled out supersuck on a 6-8 foot day with some bigger sets (it rarely gets over 4-6 foot for what its worth) during a lull but got caught inside just as i almost made it out. I paddled out near the outside tip but ended up down the end after about a 12 wave set. then i finally made it out the back and first wave didnt make a drop, landed crooked and felt my leash tear into my ankle bruising it and i couldnt surf after that.Didnt snap my leggy though.

I was kind of glad i had to go in actually as it was pretty damn heavy and theres no channel on those bigger days, commit to 300 metres of draining barrel ending in a closeout or dont go.
Also gudangs and smoking are sooo bad for your surfing.

Jeezus..Young blokes head injury over on Stab !

i knew i shouldn't have looked!

Had a bit of a shake up about a month ago. Definitely not an injury story, laughable in it's relative lack of heaviness but maybe interesting and relatable non the less.

Beachie with a fair bit of power behind it, kind of jumbled swell around 3-4 ft, every 30 to 45 minutes though a solid 5-6ish wash through would come through. Fucked up my positioning and saw one feathering out the back, started heading towards it but realised I was caught out, this ones gonna break about 2 ft in front of me = bugger. I was going to commit to the duck dive regardless, but this one seemed more top to bottom and I panicked and decided to ditch at the last second and slide under it. Didn't get a good breath at all due to this indicisiveness (noted for next time), got tumbled under for a while (longer/more violent than usual but still only <10 seconds in reality). Because of the shitty breath and lack of preparation to take it on the head I started to freak out a bit when under (knowing realistically i'd be fine but still starting to panic a bit). Burnt all my breath/energy trying to get back up top and took in a bit of water getting. Once up I proned the next one in and chilled on the beach for a while.

The whole thing was a bit of a reminder that regardless of how comfortable you are at a spot and in certain conditions, sometimes things don't go as you expect. Lessons learned; decide and commit to the duck dive (almost always) or ditch (last resort and only if no one around), ride it out and don't fight it when under.

Years ago I was surfing Bingan. Wasn’t real big, maybe 4 or five feet. My face was so sunburned I borrowed a Gath helmet with the transparent grey space age type visor that slid down so I could have surf. Anyway we were having fun, I got caught inside and got smashed in to the bottom duck diving. Came up and the visor covering my face had deep scratched and a gouge in the plastic. Hate to think how messed up I could of been if I didn’t have the helmet on (which funnily enough it’s the only time I’ve worn one).

I've had a few but the most embarrassing was running over the rocks to the jump off, I slipped, fell sideways and landed on the rail of my board. Being an idiot I kept going, jumped off and landed on the two ribs I had just broken. Took me about twenty minutes of frigging agony to paddle around the point and get in!

This Surf injury story involves #1 Surfer & The Queen...
2008 #1 UK Senior/Grom Chick Surfer Gwen Spurlock 16 years old
2/3x UK Pro Surf Tour Champ
Gwen was to surf before the Queen @ Swansea LC2 Flow Wave opening.

During practice Gwen was tossed forward striking her head on the hard surface.
She immediately complained of Double Vision before having a seizure five days later.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2769385/300-000-lawsuit-brain-…

Surgeons drilled two 10c coin sized holes into Gwen's skull to relieve brain pressure.
Gwen suffered memory loss, affecting her education, lost modelling assignments & Comps.
A 2nd operation was needed to deflate a Cyst on the outside of her Brain.
Gwen feared she might be left Paralysed after 2nd op...all was Ok.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/walking-on-water-the…

Gwen was said to have made a full recovery & returned to Surfing Career.
2010 Gwen was still wearing her helmet until August... > next month & then...
2010 https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8251696.stm
2010 Gwen Retains UK Title (Hard to believe...epic comeback performance! Wow!)
https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/9191690.stm

May 2012 Gwen was awarded a payout by LC2 who are seeking same from Murphy's Waves.

Follow Up
https://coolerlifestyle.com/features/spur-of-the-moment.html
https://www.visitwales.com/things-do/adventure-and-activities/waterspor…

Pretty sure Gwen is now a much sought after UK surf Coach > ISA Team / Gromz etc.

indo-dreaming wrote:

Well here is mine my story and accident is a very recent one.

Location: Mentawai's (Telescopes area)

Straight out from Padang fresh off the plane, its was my second surf and i was just in time for one of the biggest swells of the year can't remember what size they were calling it but it was a very long period swell something like 17 seconds, i was staying with friends so it was him and me in his boat, the wind was NW so it was straight out to Suicides rights (Ariks) not the best wave in the Mentawai's but still a decent wave when there is a bit of swell.

Conditions were great high tide, offshore, lines stacked to the horizon, solid overhead and only a crew of about half a dozen with some local kids inside getting scraps, i was amped and there was plenty of barrels and lining up perhaps as good as it ever does.

I got a small warm up wave, then a set came through overhead in size, i was perhaps a little deep and late but i went anyway, i made the take off but it ran off too fast, so i straightened out and jumped off something I've done many times here, i thought i was fine, but then the white water kind of rolled me like a rag doll, next thing BANG and i felt a numbness..FUCK i just got rolled on a big coral head, and hit it with full force with the side of my body then it kind of rolled me onto my shoulder, I'm sure it was one of those brain coral ones, it didn't feel real sharp just hard and big and round.

It can be a pretty shallow reef but when i came up i was still in a decent amount of water, i got washed down to the inside and paddled to the shoulder, i still felt that numb pain and i had a full sleeve rashy on so i wasn't to sure what id done, i pulled it up and asked one of the local grommets "ada luka?" (is there cuts?) they said yes, so i ripped it off but it was only really grazes nothing to bad, i knew i was hurt but not sure how bad, so i paddled back out to the take off area and sat a little wide hoping in five to ten minutes the pain would go and id get my energy back and continue surfing.

I played it cool with the other guys just saying id hit the reef pretty hard but was just a little winded and only had a few grazes.

5 minutes passed and i started feeling more pain and felt weaker, maybe 10 minutes maybe passed and i started to think fuck i better go in as I'm getting worse, so i paddled to the boat, it was then i realised i had no energy and was having trouble paddling and had to kick to actually get moving, after what seemed like forever i finally got to the boat, I managed to somehow get into the boat, drank some water and rested, watching perfect waves peel off and guys getting barrelled, finally my mate came in, by which time i was feeling pretty sore, we spun of back home lucky it was only five to ten minute boat ride.

As soon as i got back to where i was staying, i thought id have a shower, wow was that a bad decision as soon as the cold water hit me instead of feeling refreshed, my body tensed up and i gasped for breath as pain shot through my body like in a spasm, i nearly passed out and felt like i was going to throw up, and which time i realised i must be really hurt, i managed to scramble outside and lie down on the deck on the way i passed my mates missus and said i really don't feel well i think I've really hurt myself i mean this could be serious, she said she had some kind of miracle oil and massaged it into my back and muscles, which fully helped relax my muscles and got me back to the more bearable pain i had before the cold shower.

I then went up stairs and laid on the floor hoping id feel better after a few hours relaxing or if i was real lucky a sleep, it was when i was laying there with just a board bag between me and the timber floor that i realised fuck I'm having trouble breathing, i was in so much pain, the whole side of my body was numb with pain, but for some reason i really had to relax and concentrate to just breath, i did think fuck maybe I've punctured my lung, but thought if i had id know and i would be spitting some blood like in the movies, I'm not sure if i passed out but for a while i was just in a haze, i remember thinking shit this is serious but fuck i don't want to go to a hospital or doctor here as they would probably make it worse, but i just remember thinking fuck i feel like i could die and for a split second or two i actually accepted it and just thought okay whatever happens happens.

Anyway fast forward to that night although i was very very sore latter i felt a bit better like the worse had passed, over the next few days although the side of my body ribs and back was really sore i felt as i was getting better each day and just took neurofin to reduce inflammation, apart from that i just had a cough which i though was from passive smoking about two pack of garam garam a day.

Anyway my plan was just a quick trip out to the Mentawais for a week and then i had a flight booked on a small plane to some other island further north where i had boards, and thought in time id be able to surf i just needed a few more days.

Anyway during the flight again i had trouble breathing and went into a coughing fit, again i just tried to relax and concentrate on my breathing, at the time i just put it down to the cough i had from passive smoking and that i felt like crap.

Anyway a few more days passed, a week or so and i was feeling better but still very sore down my back and my ribs, especially when i played down the wrong way or coughed or sneezed and just an ache the rest of the time.

But i had to see if i could surf i couldn't go home not knowing id tried, one morning the conditions were perfect for one of my favourite waves, we pulled up and it was pumping overhead glassy perfect barrels, i had a mate with me but he is a fair bit older and the waves were a bit too much for him, so i paddled out alone, it hurt paddling but i just thought id deal with it, almost got to the take off area when a bigger set reared up and just went crazy and broke right in front of me, oh fuck i was more worried about getting bounced on the reef, i held my breath and took one wave on the head, it felt like forever and i came up gasping for breath, then there was another exactly the same, so under i went again, this time i felt like i was going to drown, i popped up gasping for air and luckily id been washed further inside and towards the channel and was out of the impact zone, but fuck i was still gasping for air and it was pretty painful paddling, after that i though i better go back to the boat, the swell period was crazy i think it was 17 seconds again but felt like 19 and the wave was going pretty crazy.

Next day i thought id give it one more go, the swell had dropped a little and the period had also dropped and it looked like the swell had lost its teeth, we pulled up at another of my fav waves a more rippable wave it was still solid way overhead maybe double overhead but again no one out, my mate also joined me, fuck it hurt paddling my ribs hurt so much, but i managed to get three waves but paddling and especially trying to catch them was very very painful I also got a few waves on the head and got much more worked over than normal, so i thought i better go in as the pain was way overtaking the stoke factor.

After that i realised it wasn't realistic to surf and id just have to go home basically only having one proper surf.

Anyway after going to Java to visit family and then KL for a few days I got back to OZ I was still pretty sore so i thought i better go to the Doctor and get my ribs checked out, thinking maybe i just had one cracked rib, so i went to the doctor (a foxy little china doll) and she seemed more concerned with my breathing, so also booked me in for an X-ray of my ribs and lung.

So i went to the hospital and got X-rays, they soon told me it was a little more than a cracked rib and that i wasn't going anywhere, as apart from three cracked ribs i also had a punctured deflated lung with half a litre or more of blood in it, i also had quite an amount of air on the outside of my lung that was part of the reason for my deflated lung as it stops it going back to its proper shape.

Anyway to cut a long story short a few hours latter i was puffing down Ketamine (Special K) , feeling like i somehow didn't exist any more but at the same time traveling through worm holes into galaxy far far away on one of the best trips of my life, all the while the doctors were cutting a hole in my ribs and stuffing a draining tube into my lung, i then got an ambulance ride to the Alfred hospital where they had to let my lung drain for a few days and i had half a dozen more X-rays.

Apparently the worse thing you can do if you this injury in particular air outside your lungs is to take a plane ride of which i took six separate plane rides.

Yeah so about a month latter or so I'm still a bit sore but breathings all good just got a patch on my ribs from where they stuffed a hose to drain me and just got to let these ribs heal.

Someone just bumped this thread.

Interesting to read my story years latter, I'm glad i documented it, some of the aspects had faded from memory, but my own post took me back there.

Anyway a few years after this story the guy i was hanging with and surfed with in the story a guy about 10 to 15 years older than me died some issue in his brain that was like a ticking time bomb finally caught up with him.

Thats why he moved to the Mentawais, he had been diagnosed with something in his brain that was going to kill him, doctors said it could be 3 days, 3 months, 3 years or longer, so he just wanted to live his last years surfing and fishing in the place he loved.

He was a real character a classic sea dog who had lived a full but hard life, I only knew him for a few years but had some crazy adventures with him.

Here is a pic of him in the drivers seat and two mates, in front of my old Mentawai beach shack, sadly termites and storms took out the shack years ago though.

BTW. Yes they are blue healers they brought them over from Oz, passed on now too.

PS. I still havent bothered to get travel insurance