Gallery: Kai Mckenzie’s Powerful Return To The Water

Kai Mckenzie is a man of his word. 

Weeks after being hit by a 15ft white that took his right leg, the Australian freesurfer told Stab, “Once I’m cleared to surf again, I’ll be going straight back out to where I got done. I’ve got to get past that fear.” 

This past Sunday, only three months after his incident, he did just that. 

All words and photos by Josh Tabone. 

Kai’s old man and his mum were there too, along with a few of his family members, his uncle and some of his closest mates from Bonny Hills. Then Kai turned up, and I asked him if he wanted to actually do this. He was so fired up. I asked him how he was feeling, and he was like, “Yeah, good, good, just kind of wigging out a little bit. It looks exactly like that day.” And I said, “Fucking hell, that’s what Sam said.”

Kai got changed, but he only had boardies because they had to rip off his old wetsuit in hospital. He ended up borrowing one from my mate and paddled out there so quickly, alone. It was pretty gnarly to see. I was kind of shaking the whole time. Even when he was paddling out, it almost brought me to tears. It was probably the craziest thing I’ve ever photographed. Just seeing him out there with no fear. There must have been a lot going through his mind, but he was laser-focused, just wanting to get a wave and get the monkey off his back. It was powerful. 

It was his first time back on the surfboard. I think his leg had just healed over because he had so many skin grafts. He got a few waves, which was pretty crazy. He was sort of prone-ing it, and everyone was catching party waves. 

There was this big flock of birds — maybe swans, I dunno. I’ve never seen a flock that big before, and they were flying past us just as he caught that first wave. It was a pretty weird moment, and all the boys were tripping out. It was a special day. Hard not to feel superstitious.

The local crew has been surfing again, but it’s still on everyone’s minds. It’s a weird vibe, for sure. You see it with every shark attack. No one was surfing Lighthouse for weeks after the last attack. I don’t think anyone’s surfed North Wall since Kai. The banks have been shit, but it’s something we think about every day.

He’s a fucking hero. That’s the best way to sum it up. He’s a hero. The whole way he carries himself, the way he talks about it — it’s heroic. He’s so fired up to surf. He’s got his prosthetic sorted, and he’s working on getting a surf-specific one. He’s already talking about getting a mental fisheye shot. I’m like, “Yeah, I know you’re going to do it, but don’t rush it.”

Donate to his Gofundme here.