Eli Hanneman Hospitalized After Head Injury At Pipe
Stable but woozy after 8 head staples, 6 stitches, pancreatic lesion and a nasty concussion.
19 year-old child prodigy Eli Hanneman has been hospitalized after hitting the reef at Pipeline on Monday.
After taking off on a fast, sizeable Pipe drainer, Eli ejected feet-first as the lip curled over, ragdolling him across the reef and shooting his board into his abdomen (see clip below).
On IG Eli said:
“God is good! Took a pretty bad spill out at Pipe Monday afternoon which put me in the hospital. I got pretty banged up but I believe God has had his hand on me through it all! I can’t thank @brodi_sale @northshorelifeguardassociationenough for saving my life, you guys are the reason I’m still alive❤️. I don’t have too much memory of what went down but if I didn’t mention anyone that helped me let me know so you don’t go unnoticed and unappreciated! I’m pretty strung out on drugs right now so I might sound fried but I’m just so happy to be alive.”
“Ended up with 8 staples in the back of my head, 6 stitches in my chin, cuts all over my body from my shoulders, to my hips and lower body, all of which from the reef. The head injuries are always a major concern and something that is going to be looked into, since I did have a concussion but the most significant damage done was actually from my board. Underwater my board must’ve hit me pretty hard in the upper abdomen causing a laceration in my pancreas, which was causing significant pain to my stomach area. Luckily the doctors found that it was not something I needed surgery for and I was able to be operated through my stomach without surgery needing to be done.”
“I’m so thankful for all the messages and concerns about me over the last few days. It’s been unbelievable the amount of love that I’ve felt. I was unable to eat or drink for 2 days so it felt like a huge accomplishment to finally eat some liquids today😂. @palomabanto flew in as well to keep me company which meant the world. My mom @hannemom_, flew home from California on a trip, and my dad @curthanneman dropped everything just to be with me. Life is good, I’m so happy to be alive and i now have a completely different perspective on what it means to have a healthy, normal life❤️. Love everyone that was concerned for me, it means the world!”
Almost half of CT surfers are wearing helmets during the Pipe warm-ups. Eli was one of three injuries at Pipe on Monday, another of which was severe. We wish Eli a speedy recovery.
Stay safe out there folks. It’s a stark reminder of surfing’s risks, as seen in Sterling Spencer’s traumatic brain injury documented in Are You Serious? on Stab Premium.
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