In the first episode of a brand new web series British charger Tom Butler recounts his bone shattering wipeout at the WSL big wave comp in Nazare.

In future episodes Butler will tell the story of the proceeding 6 months, his slow and steady recovery and his plan’s for the future. Here’ what he had to say about episode one:

“Pushing for an invite into a Big Wave World Tour event was lots of fun and was my goal for about 2 years. Being part of the 24 man international invitees at the first ever Nazare challenge left me feeling very proud and hungry to do well in the event.

Perhaps a bit too hungry. The heat didn’t start great for me. I like to steady the nerves and get off to a fast start catching a good wave within the first 5 minutes of a heat. This is how most good events start for competitors. From there on you build on that first score. Time went by during my heat and I hadn’t caught a good wave. Through frustration and adrenaline, I turned and went on a big ugly wave and took a heavy wipeout!

The result was 5 days in hospital, I suffered a Pneumothorax and nearly lost my left ear. Until you go you don’t know! Many lessons have been learnt from this incident. My love for the sport is at an all time high and I’m really looking forward to returning back to Nazare to tackle the monster at the end of this filming series. For now…Enjoy the breakdown of my Nazare challenge experience, plus watch a few completed waves from past big wave seasons surfing Nazare. ”