In surfing, wipeouts are the bane of the existence of surfers. While some of the wipeouts turn out to be epic, some are so dangerous that they even take lives. Hence, it is always a risk that surfers have to take. This is why they take along safety equipment and safety teams which can rescue them if the need arises.
Nathan Wilde is a social media, specifically TikTok, creator that posts several videos on surfing. He posted a wipeout video on the platform with a voiceover. The wipeout that was showcased in the video was a truly vicious one.
Brutal wipeout followed by an epic save
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In the TikTok video, a surfer is seen riding a big wave and after the ascent, the white water comes in too quickly and the surfer gets stuck underneath. Wilde describes the wipeout as “This is one of the most vicious wipeouts I have ever seen. The surfer catches it and accelerates down the face of the wave. But the white water comes on too fast and overtakes him from behind, violently swallowing him in a massive wall of angry water that wrecks absolutely everything in its path.”
However, thankfully, a rescue team was there with the surfer and they immediately started looking for him under the water. Wilde added, “The surfer is held down as a safety team searches for him, hoping to spot him before the next monster wave. A safety driver spots him and races over on his jet ski which is pulling a foam pad with several grab handles on the sides specially designed for rescuing big wave surfers.”
Luckily for the surfer, the safety driver spotted the surfer under the water and quickly made his way over to him. If not for the safety team, the surfer would probably have been in the clutches of another massive wave that was oncoming. While the surfer could have held his breath during the first wipeout, holding his breath for a second time for that long would have been humanly impossible.
Miraculous rescue amazes surfing community
The surfer, it seemed like, owed his life to the safety driver. “The driver pulls up beside him, the surfer pulls himself up onto the pad and the driver throttles it just in time to miss getting hit by the next wave,” Wilde said. Then he also added what, according to him, was absolutely necessary for a quick and effective rescue from a vicious wipeout: “Great equipment, great surfers, and great safety teams make this possible.”
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The surfing community was in agreement with the fact that the man on the jet ski was literally a lifesaver. In the comments, someone very aptly wrote, “jet ski man a legend”. Another TikTok user rightly elaborated on the dangers of ruthless wipeouts and said, “Scariest thing is white water is like bubbles.. you can’t get above it because it’s air but you can’t breathe because it’s water”.
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That sounds absolutely terrifying. Have you ever been stuck under a merciless white water onslaught such as the one described here?