Owen And Tyler Wright Will Tell Their Story

It’s one of surfing’s biggest, yet largely untold stories of recent vintage. What a year the Wright family had in 2016. December on the North Shore in 2015, on the eve of the world title showdown at Pipe, word emerged that Owen had been rushed to hospital with severe head trauma, reportedly the result of a mistimed set.

Much detail about the injury itself has remained untold. A result of both everyone in Owen’s camp staying tight-lipped and Owen being self-managed (thus, being nearly impossible to reach). All anyone really knew was that he experienced life-altering damage to his head, the nature of which remains relatively murky to both Owen and the world.

But as we’re well aware by now, Owen made a wildly inspiring comeback, winning the 2017 Quiksilver Pro over 2016 event champ and close friend, Matt Wilkinson. It was a miraculous rebound that generated headlines and touched readers across media outlets both in and out of surf. A part of Owen’s story that has been only delicately touched on, though, is the time he spent recovering between the ICU and the podium. Other than rumours and rare Instagram posts, there was much left to the imagination during the almost year long gap.

That is, until now: The ABC’s Australian Story sat down with the Wright family to hear them speak candidly about Owen’s recovery. Specifically, the impact his sister, Tyler, had in bringing her brother back to his feet. After Owen went down, Tyler considered pulling out of her 2016 World Title season to look after him. And while she ended up finishing the year on her brother’s request, she remained his primary caretaker throughout.

All For The Family premiers at 8pm on Monday, March 27, and delves into Tyler’s relationship with her brother, and his crawl back to life. It features interviews from Layne Beachley, Mick Fanning, and Stephanie Gilmore as well. This will be unmissable.

Stand by your fam.