The world’s fourth-best surfer nearly died Sunday after he passed out and fell underwater for several minutes at Banzai Pipeline, Hawaii, on Sunday.
Brazilian pro surfer João Chianca was “completely purple” when other surfers and lifeguards pulled him from the water at Ehukai Beach on Oahu’s North Shore after a big wave hit him, Hawaii News Now reported.
Chianca, 23, was on top of a wave when he free fell without his board, a routine move surfers do when they’re not going to make a wave, according to the publication.
But Chianca did not reappear on the surface of the water.
The surfer, ranked fourth by the World Surfing League, is believed to have hit his head on either the seabed or his board and was in the water for several minutes, local publications reported.
“There were actually three more waves that he went over his head, and he was underwater,” Honolulu Ocean Safety Patrolman Ian Bachmann told Hawaii News Now.
“At that point, things happened so fast, but when we saw his body floating there, we thought we had to get him as soon as possible.”
Brazilian pro surfer João Chianca was “completely purple” when other surfers and lifeguards pulled him from the water at Ehukai Beach on Oahu’s North Shore after a big wave hit him. Getty Images
Lifeguards and fellow surfers rushed to Chianca, who was unconscious, and pulled him to shore, where they performed CPR.
The Brazilian athlete had a pulse but was purple and not breathing, the surfer who helped save him told Surfline. He spat out water and foam as soon as the rescuers began chest compressions and his chest began to move as he breathed on his own again.
He was given oxygen and regained consciousness – blinking and moaning – before he was rushed to hospital by ambulance, the outlet reported.
Pro-surfer Kala Grace, who died last winter in a similar wipeout that left her in recovery for months, said watching the “horrific” scenes unfold was traumatic.
Chianca, 23, was on top of a wave when he free fell without his board, a routine move surfers do when they’re not going to make a wave, according to the publication. AFP via Getty Images
“I saw him lying there completely purple in the cold and all the lifeguards around, and all I could see lying on the board was just me because it was just me in January,” he told Hawaii News Now.
Hawaii’s Pipeline is known for its impressive waves and impressive swells and attracts professional surfers from around the world every winter — but the waters are relentless.
“João is very talented and very cool,” pro-surfer Eli Olson told Surfline. “I was watching him do crazy waves that day. But if you spend enough time at Pipeline, it’s not a question of if but when you’re going to have a bad fall.”
The surfer, who is ranked number four by the World Surf League, is believed to have hit his head on either the seabed or his board and was underwater for several minutes, local publications reported. AFP via Getty Images
Bachmann also echoed that sentiment.
“Joao is like one of the best surfers on the planet, and it just goes to show Pipeline doesn’t discriminate if you’re the best surfer in the world or the worst,” Bachmann told Hawaii News Now.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
