Stab Magazine | Kirra Horror Story: "I Heard My Spine Crunch And Crack"

Season finale of How Surfers Get Paid drops Thursday, 5pm PT

2076 Views

Kirra Horror Story: “I Heard My Spine Crunch And Crack”

“I knew I had broken my back straight away.”

news // Feb 21, 2018
Words by Rick Snowden
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Unless you’ve been on social hiatus, you’d be aware that according to Joel Parkinson, Kirra’s been “the best it’s been in years.”

There’s no need to review the events that have taken place since Cyclone Gita came to town. We’ve got all the photos and ridiculous motion viewing you’ll need to see, here. Everything from Darren Handley’s spectacular jet ski slam, to Parko’s endless melter, Mark Mathews return to the tube and more. 

As the growing list of lengthier edits featuring skis, crowds and overhead drainers spill out onto the internet, so do the personal recounts from those on the ground. 

Central Coast turned Byron Bay local, Max Tough, made the short trip over the border to snatch a slice of the Gita pie on Sunday afternoon. He scratched out into the lineup, scooped in to a wide one, saw the vision, then promptly had himself pile-driven into the hard packed sand bed. He heard a snap and thought the worst.

http://vimeo.com/256273095

(A brief aerial glimpse of what Kirra’s been offering for the past several days, featuring Joel Parkinson, Gezza Blake, Jethro Lyons and another unknown warrior. Video: Alex Bowden)

Stab got him on the line to talk through the ordeal: 

“I was paddling back out after getting a nice one in front of the groin and next thing I know this wider set comes through in front of that hotel with the arch and it caught a few people out of position.

I started getting excited seeing it lining up and drawing off the bank. I knew it was the one.

As I came off the bottom I looked up and thought to myself “fuck yeah! This is real Kirra!”

I started to stand tall in this six-foot below-sea-level cavern. Then the bloody thing decided to chandelier and I fell forward onto my belly. I didn’t get time to penetrate, only enough time to curl up in a ball to protect myself.

I got slammed soooo fucking hard on my tail bone. The wave pushed my legs out wide into the splits position, my head scraped along the sand and I heard my spine crunch and crack.

I knew I had broken my back straight away.

I was so winded that I didn’t get a chance to take a breath for the following three waves.

(MT, swinging left in a different part of the world late last year)

As soon as my breath came back so did the pain. I was screaming in agony. No one was around to help as I was getting washed way up the beach.

I couldn’t paddle fast enough to catch the white water, so I took it one painful stroke at a time until I washed up at this families feet screaming for help. I wanted to see if I could stand up to rule out serious damage. I took two steps and my legs buckled but it gave me enough confidence that I was going to be fine just by taking those two steps.

They ran and got the lifeguards who took great care of me before the ambulance arrived and gave me the green whistle and maxed me out on morphine which felt like it did nothing due to the fact that I was in complete spasm.

I’m in hospital up on the Goldie with a broken back fracturing two vertebrae. Just waiting to get my MRI scans for more detailed results.

Looking like I will be in a brace for 6-12 weeks which means I can’t drive. And no work for a minimum of three months, no surfing for 6 months.

I am so thankful that it’s not worse. The wave could of easily chosen to slam me on my head but it chose to give me a second chance. It all happened so quick, I had no control.

Pretty hectic but I’m in good spirits.”

Screen Shot 2018 02 21 at 11.26.14 am

Stab wishes the appropriately named, Mr Tough, all the best in his involuntary time out of the water. Injuries suck, but the vision he had moments before his back was snapped in two will likely keep him sane throughout his recovery.

Hero video by Jesse Little.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Take Stab’s 2023 Audience Survey, Win A 3-Board Quiver

Stab towels and Premium subscriptions also up or grabs.

Mar 21, 2023

Jessi Miley Dyer On The New Challenger Series Schedule And More

Did you know that you could miss the mid-year cut and still theoretically win the…

Mar 20, 2023

5:05

“I’m A West Oz Bogan For Sure, I Just Don’t Have The Mullet”

The first SEOTY entry of 2023 is ‘Into Dust’ ft. Jacob Willcox.

Mar 20, 2023

Warren Smith on New Welcome Rivers Range and Buying Jaguars on Facebook Marketplace  

Now available in the Antipodes...

Mar 20, 2023

5:13

Wavegarden Spills How The Sausage Is Made

BTS of their global air wave rollout ft. Yago Dora, Dion Agius, Reef Heazlewood and…

Mar 18, 2023

Minds, Machines, And The Magic Of Hands

How modern shapers split their time between designing files and hand-finishing boards.

Mar 18, 2023

3:31

Are Hectic Lefts The Final Finless Frontier?

William Aliotti is on the right-foot-forward fringes.

Mar 17, 2023

Watch: Luke + Eddie

A mostly unknown, on-duty lifeguard won the most prestigious big-wave event in history. How Luke…

Mar 17, 2023

7:10

A Pipe Master, Ryan Burch, And Some Pickle Forks On The Eastern Seaboard

This one ticks a lot of boxes

Mar 16, 2023

Brazil Has A Talent Problem

And three other things we learned from the Rip Curl Pro Portugal.

Mar 16, 2023

2:05

Mick Fanning On A Unicorn, Bags Of Dicks, And A Shocking Script Read By Surfing’s Biggest Stars

Vaughan Blakey and Nick Pollet on their outrageous film, 'The Greatest Surf Movie In The…

Mar 15, 2023

Italo Ferreira Caught 63 Waves In An Hour

And other stats from our Stab in the Dark production.

Mar 15, 2023

3:41

Can A Freesurfer Go The Other Way? A Dakoda Walters Case Study

The 57-kilo Aussie has taken a Stab High approach to trad contest surfing.

Mar 15, 2023

Caity Simmers And João Chianca Fulfill Respective Prophecies Under Gaze Of Portuguese President

A very good day of competitive surfing.

Mar 14, 2023

Kelly And Steph Are In Trouble

What's a GOAT gotta do to make the cut around here?

Mar 14, 2023

15:28

“I Used To Only Surf Here With One Guy…His Name’s Henry, And He’s A Seal”

A contemplation on the frigid desolation of Iceland.

Mar 14, 2023

World #1 Carissa Moore Vanquished By Front Pad Toting Wildcard, Lucky Few Get Supertubed

‘Go hard or go home, innit’ 

Mar 13, 2023

Hungover Hold-Downs, Patent Feuds, And One-In-A-Million Malfunctions Involving 11x World Champs: The Story Of Surfing’s Inflatable Vests

These things changed the game.

Mar 13, 2023
Advertisement