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“An Explosion Like Crack”: Hawaiian Surfer, Who Broke His Back Following a Horrendous Fall, Narrates His Sorry State

Published 02/14/2023, 4:45 PM EST

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Surfing is as thrilling as any sport can get. However, it is as dangerous, as it is enticing. The waves of the ocean are completely unpredictable, and even with decades of experience, no one can accurately judge its behavior on any day. Nathan Florence who was tempted to attempt a 25-foot barrel, ended up having a terrible fall. Although it could have been more lethal than it was, thankfully the surfer got out with minimal damage.

In his latest YouTube video, Florence breaks down his fall and injury to his fans. Moreover, he talks about what was going through his mind during that fatal free fall he had from over 15 feet.

Surfing star shares his views on his terrifying fall

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Nathan Florence was in a fabulous mood and was looking to score on a high wave. As he states in the video uploaded on his YouTube channel, he was “expecting a 25-foot barrel. This is the thing I have been wanting to do for a long time.” And when it came, he couldn’t resist. After some warm-up, he jumped right into it.

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He broke down the fall and said, “Everything felt good. And soon as I am fully committed in, this wave starts to pick me up. I know I am real late, and this is a 25-foot wave.” As he fell, he managed to keep contact with the board and he decided to knife in. As he did so, he tried to regain his balance, but it kept getting worse. Lastly, he tried to pull the vest but failed as he lost his balance. 

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Unfortunately, in the end, he had a bad fall. Florence said, “What happens those barrels, the water tension gets ripped and like shredded and I swear, there’s like, what we call hard water in those barrels, where water is moving so fast so violently that it feels like cement when you land on it. And, I was hunched forward with my vest in my hand when I impacted, and I impacted, and as soon as I impacted it felt like I landed on my back from my a 15-foot fall on straight cement and it went like boom, in my back, like an explosion like crack right, in the center of my back.” 

Fans reacted to Florence’s injury update

In the video, Florence also disclosed his injury. He told his fans that he was diagnosed with a T12 vertebrae fracture, and was told to have a six-week rest before getting into any physical activity. But four weeks after the incident, Florence is back to “nearly fully training”, although without consulting with his doctors. That is because the doctors will inhibit him from doing so, as he stated in the video.

However, he also updated his fans on Instagram about the status of his injury. Let’s have a look at a few of the fans’ and followers’ comments he received. They wrote,

“Good news Nath. Could have been worse. Glad to hear this but now😍 I’m worried about your dancing career. “

“Get better sooon!❤️👏”

“Stoked to hear that was all. Heal soon @nathan_florence . Back in action in no time”

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“SuperHealerNastyyy haha get better brada stoked u all good for the most part 🙌”

“Could be the universe saying rest @nathan_florence 😂 Heal up bro 🙌”

“Heal up warrior! You will be getting barreled again before you know it”

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Accidents and injuries are nothing novel to surfing and surfers. They sign up for this when they become pro-surfers. However, what do you think about this terrifying fall Nathan Florence just had a month ago? Let us know in the comment section.

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Written by:

Kaivalya R Pillai

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One take at a time

Dr. Kaivalya R Pillai is a US Sports author working at EssentiallySports. An accomplished academician, he recently completed his doctorate degree in pharmacy.
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Edited by:

Anupama Ghosh