The world’s fourth-best surfer nearly died Sunday after falling unconscious and falling underwater for several minutes at Hawaii’s Banzai Pipeline on Sunday.
Brazilian professional 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 massive wave crashed on top of him, Hawaii News Now reported.
Chianca, 23, was on top of a wave when he fell freely without his board, a routine maneuver surfers perform when they don’t want to reach the wave, according to the publication.
But Chianca did not rise to the surface of the water again.
The surfer, number four in the World Surf League, is believed to have hit his head on the ocean floor or his board and was underwater for several minutes, the local publication reported.
“He actually took three more waves to the head and was underwater,” Honolulu Ocean Safety lifeguard Ian Bachmann told Hawaii News Now.
“At that time, things happened very quickly, but when we saw his body floating there, we thought we should get to him as quickly as possible.”
Brazilian professional 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 massive wave crashed on top of him. fake images
Lifeguards and other surfers rushed to Chianca, who was unconscious, and dragged him to shore, where they performed CPR.
The Brazilian athlete had a pulse, but was purple and not breathing, the surfers who helped rescue him told Surfline. He spat out water and foam once rescuers began performing 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 the hospital in an ambulance, the outlet reported.
Professional surfer Kala Grace, who came close to death last winter in a similar fall that left him in rehab for months, said watching the “twisted” scene unfold was traumatic.
Chianca, 23, was on top of a wave when he fell freely without his board, a routine maneuver surfers perform when they don’t want to reach the wave, according to the publication. AFP via Getty Images
“I saw him lying there completely purple, cold and all the lifeguards around, and all I could see lying on the dashboard was just me because it was just me in January,” he told Hawaii News Now.
Hawaii’s Pipeline is famous for its impressive waves and waves and attracts professional surfers from around the world each winter, but its waters can be unforgiving.
“João is so talented and so gnarly,” pro surfer Eli Olson told Surfline. “That day I was watching him ride crazy waves. But if you put enough time into Pipeline, it’s not a matter of if you’re going to have a bad crash, it’s a matter of when.”
The surfer, number four in the World Surf League, is believed to have hit his head on the ocean floor or his board and was underwater for several minutes, the local publication reported. AFP via Getty Images
Bachmann also echoed this sentiment.
“Joao is like one of the best surfers on the planet, and that shows that 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: vtt.edu.vn