Hawaiian ripper Dusty Payne has been rushed to hospital after taking a nasty wipeout on the north shore yesterday.
Dusty hit the reef after he caught an edge pulling into a backdoor drainer, falling head first into the reef, and knocking himself unconscious.
Jimmy “Ulu Boi” Napeahi, who is no stranger to heavy situations in the brine, having himself survived a shark attack, was one of the first to get to Dusty, after local photographer Keoki Saguibo raised the alarm when he saw that Dusty hadn’t resurface after the wipeout.
“I pulled on his leash, swam down, grabbed him and straddled his legs around my waist.” Jimmy “Ulu Boi” Napeahi told Free surf magazine. “Keoki, who was keeping his neck straight, kept saying “we got you, it’s going to be ok” and that calmed me down. Once we got to the beach, everyone was there and we let the lifeguards, the professionals, do their job.”
The lifeguards quickly revived Dusty, who, according to witnesses, was yelling in pain as he came to. He was then taken to hospital, where he is reportedly in a stable condition. We’d like to join the rest of the surf community in commending the vital efforts of all those who helped and wish Dusty a speedy recovery.
