Surfer’s life saved at Banzai Pipeline

BANZai PIPELINE– A notorious Hawaiian wave which severely injured Australian surfers Owen Wright and Bede Durbidge in December came close to ending the life of a body boarder at the weekend.

Lifeguards say New Jersey bodyboarder Dylan McGinn got wiped out and hit his head on the reef at the North Shore’s Banzai Pipeline.

First on the scene was six-time bodyboard world champion turned North Shore lifeguard, Guilherme Tamega. He was off-duty catching a few waves himself, when he witnessed the accident.

McGinn disappeared after riding a deep barrel. Tamega said he jumped into action after the surfer failed to surface after several waves had passed.

“By the time I reached him, I could only see his board,” Tamega said.

“I reached down and pulled him up by the shirt. He was unconscious already had a big bruise on his head. I tried to keep his head out of the water.”

Getting blasted by big waves in the process, Tamega kept McGinn afloat until more help arrived, including pro surfer Jamie O’Brien who lifted McGinn onto his board.

The two managed to get the body boarder to shore where lifeguards quickly performed CPR before he was transported to hospital.

“It was really fortunate I was there and able to act quickly,” Tamega said. “The teamwork was great. Together we saved this guys life.”

Pipeline is a powerful hollow wave that breaks over a shallow reef ledge and has claimed the lives of several surfers since it was first ridden in the early sixties.

Owen Wright suffered a severe concussion after a wipeout there in December and last week announced the complications from that injury had forced him to withdraw from at least the first half of the upcoming World Surf League season.

Fellow Australian Bede Durbidge suffered a broken pelvis after also falling on a wave there a day after Wright’s injury. He also announced his injury will prevent him from competing in the upcoming tour opening event at Snapper Rocks.

Just days before both incidents, US surfer Evan Geiselman was also knocked unconscious underwater only to be rescued in a similar style by South African body boarder, Andre Botha.

Surfers are attracted to Pipeline for its ability to produce wide-open barrels which break close to shore. Though a powerful and dangerous wave, it is also one of the world’s most crowded due to its perfection.

In recent weeks the National Weather Service has continued a high surf warning with giant swell bringing waves of more 50-foot waves to the north shores of Oahu and other Hawaiian islands.

- PNC sources