“I Blacked Out. I Only Remember Feeling My Knee Snap Around”

“Dude, I leveled myself,” Andrew Jacobson told me, just hours out of the ER in Los Angeles, after an emergency flight home from Fiji where he was getting tubed out of his skull at Cloudbreak.

On Tuesday, the below clip of Andrew made its way onto all the major surf media Instagrams.

On Wednesday, he suffered a crippling run-in with the reef. 

Mr Jacobson is a professional surfer from Los Angeles. He’s 6’5, 22-years-old with a lanky frame and a goofy demeanor. We’re quite fond of him at Stab.

He’s also an absolute tube-pig.

While most can’t make a living on the ability to thread a barrel alone, Andrew works as a part-time lifeguard in Los Angeles to supplement his income from his sponsors. He puts it all towards chasing blue holes, and the occasional big night out.

Last night I received an unfortunate, albeit slightly humorous, series of texts from Mr Jacobson.

Yoo

What up

I got fucked up

Ruined my knee

Here is a little teaser if you want anything to do with it

The “teaser” can be viewed above. 

“I’m just stoked it was dislocated rather than broken.”

Andrew left the ER just after midnight. This morning we caught up.

“I’m so bummed,” he sighed. “I wanted to get the swell that’s coming. That day [Wednesday] you could feel the energy of a new swell coming. There were a bunch of double ups. The wave I fell on was just an insider. I thought I was in the perfect spot. By the time I realized I was too late, I couldn’t pull back or temple dive.

“I just went over and got worked.

“I don’t really remember what happened after I jumped. I know I slammed my feet super hard and hit my head. I blacked out for a bit. I only remember feeling my knee snap backwards – when I came up it was twisted around and dangling. I yelled for help and Mitch Parko, Jake Kelley and Frankie Harrier helped me onto the boat.

“When I got on the boat, this guy Mario Quiros picked me up and popped my leg back into place. I’m pretty sure if that didn’t happen I could have had a situation like what happened to Mark Mathews, with the blood haemorrhaging.

“Mario is an ER doctor. Luckily I’d bro’d down with him earlier in the trip. He seriously saved me. If I didn’t get it popped back in by him I’d be screwed. 

“I rode on the boat for 40 minutes back to the mainland. Then went to the emergency room. That night I flew straight home in the smallest seat! Right when I landed, I went straight to the hospital and got some MRIs. I’m waiting for the results, but I’m pretty sure I’m pretty fucked up…

“The doctor said I may have torn my MCL, ACL and TCL. I have a minor concussion, and the gnarliest reef rash.

“That wave was fucked up though. I had to paddle for it.

“It was too good of a wave.”

“Bula”