A 2-Year Return To Surfing Begins at Mullaghmore, Ends in Rehab

Natxo González might be one of the most cheerful masochists you’ve ever seen on a surfboard.

Reset, a new series about the Basque goofyfooter, is directed by his lifelong friend and filmmaker Jon Aspuru. Together, they’ll take audiences on a global tour of wave-induced cardiac events, without so much as losing the shit-eating grins off their faces.

In May 2021, Natxo came close to getting the barrel of his life at heavy Puerto Escondido. “As I pumped through the tube, the foam ball hit me so hard in the face that I almost passed out,” he said. The violence was such that, besides the headaches, he was left dizzy, disoriented, and vomiting. He had to walk away from surfing for a couple of months to fully recover.

Some months later, another wipeout at Nazaré left him with tremors and temporary vision loss. The Mexican souvenirs endured: recurring headaches, vomiting, and blurred vision.

Coincidentally, Natxo watched Are You Serious?, the Stab documentary about Sterling Spencer’s recovery from a traumatic brain injury. It prompted him to seek professional help. Several tests showed that blood flow was slower in the part of his brain where he’d been concussed. To fully recover, he stayed dry, on the sidelines, for two years.

Volume 1 of Reset documents his return, beginning in the damp, mythological water wilds of Mullaghmore — in an equal parts foul and glorious mood.

Natxo is joined by a band of equally unhinged goofs, coming from near and far to meet in health-hazard conditions: Conor Maguire, Noah Lane, Tom Lowe, Tosh Tudor, and Andrew Jacobson.

Back at Mullaghmore, Natxo was home again. “I felt again what I felt here six years ago.” Muscle memory kicked in, and when the horizon darkened, he swung and went. “Catching that wave was unique. It felt very special to my heart. For me, this is one of the heaviest waves in the world.”

But Natxo’s ecstasy was short-lived. At a different session at pumping Pmpa, he was sent back to the ER with a second-degree muscle tear, adding another three months of rehabilitation, and zero surfing to his calendar.

Unhappy ending, for now.

To be continued…