“Boom. Gone”: Big Wave World Champ Billy Kemper’s Harrowing Experience in 2020 Wrecked Nerves Through the Surfing World

Treacherous waters and rising waves could quickly turn an adventure sport into a nightmare for anyone. Billy Kemper is a professional surfer and WLS Big Wave World Champion who faced the same on Feb 18, 2020.

Surfing in the waters of Safi, Morocco, Billy was having fun with his friends. Luke Davis, Koa Smith, and the Moroccan surfing legend Jerome Sahyoun were present with him on that day. Right around the time of sunset, things took an awry turn. 

The Unfolding of Events and How Things Quickly Escalated for Billy Kemper

Billy, who idolized Laird Hamilton growing up, had spent 9 hours in those waters of Safi. He had spent all day in the water. He and his friends had a joyful ride despite being tired. As Billy states, “Most importantly, we were just ear-to-ear smiles”. 

He was done for the day and wanted to head home before dark. However, he decided to give one final shot at surfing in the waters of Safi. And this is when all things took a turn for the worse. 

The wave had pulled a tremendous amount of water from the sand, and Billy had to shed his speed due to it. Kemper had not faced a dense wave like that in that entire trip. The wave took Billy, turned, and tossed him until he went under it.

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When I hit, I knocked out. Boom! Gone!”, recalled Billy in that specific near-death moment. A sudden feeling of numbness had wrought all over his body. He couldn’t yell or talk but could see perfectly fine. He said, “I think I am paralyzed”. One could only anticipate the fear that must have run through his veins in those brief, fading moments. A whisker separated life and death for him.

Billy Kemper’s fight to survive against a brute force

A wave as large as it could get, towering over all the surfers, just came out of nowhere. Billy’s exact word to describe it was ‘Psycho’. It makes sense, since it was mentally unfathomable to anyone, as to comprehend the sheer size of that wave.

A big scary wave could also be an opportunity for professional surfers. Luke Davis and Koa Smith are professional surfers who were not going to miss out on that opportunity of a lifetime. Hence, they didn’t hesitate to go back out on that large wave. Billy followed them and so did danger to him.

Billy was completely left to die. That is when he experienced a sudden thrust of his body. Someone had pulled him out of the waters, but Billy could barely feel anything. He says, “I felt like my leg was snapped in 20 pieces”. 

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Surfing on dense waters with large waves, especially after dark, could be life-threatening for anybody. However, it is also essential to have friends by your side in moments of need. Billy having his friends that day could possibly be the key to his survival. What do you think about this incident? Let us know in the comments.