Big
wave surfer Shawn Dollar breaks neck off California coast
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[September 10, 2015]
By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Top big-wave
surfer Shawn Dollar has broken his neck while surfing in dangerous
conditions off the central coast of California and remained hospitalized
on Wednesday, his management company said.
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Dollar, who holds the world record for the largest wave ever paddled
into, was in stable condition after breaking his neck in four places
on Monday, according to a statement on the Facebook page of the
Titans of Mavericks surf contest.
"I'm so thankful I'm alive and present today. Being surrounded by my
loved ones through this time has been paramount for me," Dollar said
in the statement.
"I'm so grateful for those who where there in my scariest and
darkest hour and who acted on my behalf to get me to safety and
reach the hospital in time," he said. "I'm thankful to learn that
even with these severe injuries I will make a full recovery."
The 34-year-old father of two was cared for by surfers and then
rushed to a hospital emergency room, where he remains in stable
condition, Titans of Maverick's said. Website surfline.com reported
he was not paralyzed from the injuries.
According to the statement "a strong south swell reportedly produced
strong waves with unfavorable mixed conditions" that put the pro
surfer "in a critical scenario that caused him to act accordingly to
protect himself."
The San Jose Mercury News reported that Dollar struck his head on a
rock.
"He got really lucky, as lucky as the doctors have seen," big wave
surfer Darryl "Flea" Virostko told the paper.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Dollar made history
when he dropped in on a 61-foot (18.6-meter) wave at the Cortes
Bank, a reef 100 miles (160 km) west of San Diego.
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Dollar was in the water with big-wave surfer Sion Milosky at the
famed Maverick's break in 2011 when Milosky was killed in a wipeout.
"I had trouble with that for more than a year, because Sion's death
made me totally aware of the cost," Dollar told the San Francisco
Chronicle in a 2013 interview. "And now I think about drowning every
single day. That's why I'm so focused on safety. Because when the
day comes, I'm going to go on the heavy waves."
Mavericks, named for a dog who joined early surfers in the water, is
a celebrated but hazardous surf spot just north of Half Moon Bay
known for waves topping out over 80 feet (24 meters).
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Lisa Lambert and Sandra
Maler)
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