Australian Surfer Defies All Odds After Long Recovery
Banzai Pipeline is one of Hawaii’s most formidable waves. 34 surfers competing in the World Surf League Championship Tour, the most coveted prize in professional surfing, gather on Oahu’s North Shore in December every year.
The Billabong Pipe Masters, as the event is called, is the final destination of eleven on the Championship Tour calendar.
It is the shallow reef that creates Pipeline’s distinctive wave, a crushing behemoth that frequently rises to heights of over 12 feet tall - double the height of those that surf it.
But the reef is sharp and extremely dangerous in places. Needless to say, there have been a number of fatalities over the last few decades, and countless injuries.
During a warm-up session at Pipe Masters 2015, Owen Wright paddled out into treacherous conditions. He was held underwater by consecutive waves before he let the surf wash him ashore. Those who met him at the shoreline reported that he looked disorientated and seemed unable to speak.
After lying down for a few hours, Wright’s condition did not improve and he was rushed to hospital. It was confirmed shortly thereafter that he had suffered a severe brain injury.
The extent of the injury wasn’t made public for some time, but over the next few months it became known that he was suffering from memory and function loss.
The 26-year-old had gone into the 2015 Pipe Masters ranked 5th, meaning victory that day could have guaranteed him the world title. But his injury raised grave concerns over the future of his career.
Wright expressed fear when he first went back in the water, and found that he couldn’t yet stand up on his surfboard. He was absent from the first half of the 2016 Championship Tour, explaining that he and his doctors wanted to be 100% sure of his health before he returned to that level of competition.
But recently his return to the sport proved that his long and arduous rehabilitation was well worth the wait.
In February 2017, Wright won the opening event of the Championship Tour in Queensland, Australia. He was chaired onto the beach by his siblings amidst a crowd of teary-eyed friends and competitors. He is currently sitting in third in the World Surf League Championship rankings.
