Surfboard Icon Timmy Patterson Saved By Son After Near-Drowning In Massive California Surf

Timmy Patterson is currently recovering after a near-fatal drowning at a remote Orange County reef break during California’s recent run of swell.

The incident, recounted to us by longtime T. Patterson Surfboards General Manager Scott Metzner, is equal parts harrowing and inspiring. According to Scott, Timmy, along with a few friends and Timmy’s son, Keone, were surfing a powerful and secluded wave in Orange County two days ago during the peak of the swell. Timmy went over the falls on the first wave of a legitimate set. Then things got hairy. 

 “When he went over the falls, he got held under for a long time,” said Scott, who told us the story based on reports from Keone and Timmy. “Out there, it’s not like when you’re at the beach and the wave energy disappears at the shoreline where  it’s shallow. This is open ocean, and the energy drags you downward. So he got dragged under water pretty bad, and there were another 6-8 waves behind it. It held him under so long that he drowned. He got water in his lungs.” 

“Timmy’s son, Keone, was right there in the zone and grabbed him,” Scott continued. “He swam his dad to the shore. The waves were pushing them in, so they were able to ride the current and get him in, but Keone had to drag him through the rocks on the beach.

“Keone said a OC Lifeguard chief Jason Young was on the beach and started pumping his chest to bring him back to life. They revived him right on the beach. The ambulance came and took him to the hospital in Mission Viejo. He was hooked up to the oxygen machine, with a tube down his throat. They put him on heavy antibiotics to fight the infection of seawater in his lungs.”

Scott said the doctors anticipated it could be up to two weeks before Timmy would be stable enough to breath without the machine. But the next morning, Timmy was already on the mend. A few hours later, they took the tube out. Timmy is reportedly still in the hospital but stable and improving by the day. A miracle, considering the circumstances.

“Timmy told me that when he was nearly unconscious, they were pumping his chest and they were almost about to give up,” Scott said. “But they kept going and they were able to revive him.”

What a blow this nearly was for surfing. Timmy’s knowledge of boards rivals anyone in the biz. It’s literally in his blood, with his father and uncle part of the post-war wave of industrial surfboard manufacturing. TImmy started his business 46 years ago and has shaped through numerous eras, styles and trends. Christian Fletcher, Matt Archibald, Pat O’Connell, Andy Irons, Jordy Smith are just a few notables who have hopped on a Timmy P.

He’s also one of the few shapers who has supplied boards to a World Champion and an Olympic gold medalist. His hardware is the weapon of choice for two 2026 Championship Tour surfers with markedly different styles: Italo Ferreira and Al Cleland Jr. But the guy is in it for the love of the game.

“One thing about Timmy that I really admire a lot is that he isn’t just a surfboard shaper,” Jon Pyzel said in his interview with Timmy last year. “He’s a surfboard builder. That guy can do anything with a surfboards. Shape it, glass it sand it Any part of the production, if he needs to jump in there and do something, he can do it. He loves it.”

We wish Timmy and his family all the best during his recovery, and we’re sure he’ll be cheering on Italo and Al tomorrow from his hospital bed.

We will too.