When it all goes wrong…

That pointy end of your shortboard, the one that is normally furthest away from you, can become quite annoying if you wipeout in the wrong way.

Tracks Editor Luke Kennedy found this out the day he nearly died at Sunset.

In his own words;
It’s been five years since I nearly died at Sunset, courtesy of being stabbed in the throat by my board. Although the footage of the incident has been available for some time I didn’t feel comfortable sharing it until now. Just a warning, it’s pretty squeamish if you can’t handle the gory details. The full details of what transpired are at tracksmag.com in an abridged version of the story that appeared in the Sun Herald newspaper.

The incident was filmed by Adam Klevin, who I encouraged to keep shooting while I was being treated on the beach by surgeon, Chris Maguire. Adam’s encouragement and words of support were much appreciated.

I’d also like to thank all the other people who helped me that day, in particular, Dr Chris Maguire, Kalen Tanaka, the Hawaiian lifeguard team, Ross Clarke-Jones, Chip Heartman, Colin Bernasconi, Freddie Patacchia, Georgia Westaway, Richard Alexander and the entire medical team at Queen’s hospital.