What happened

First I would like to extend my gratitude and thanks to all of those who participated in my rescue; the surfers who assisted Captain Simon Snider - Jesse, Zach, Skyler, Travis, the 12 year old girl who was the first person to see me, and all of the Zuma lifeguards and paramedics who rescued me that day. I’m sure there were more people involved and I would love to hear from them to thank them personally.

On March 14th, 2009 I was surfing Westwards Beach (the south end of Zuma Beach). I took off on a shoulder high left and pig dogged into a backside closeout barrel. Once in the tube the wave hit a shallow inside sandbar, the bottom became the top and I went head first into the sand.

I hit the bottom with so much force that I thought I might be hurt so I relaxed as I floated to the surface waiting to register any damage. When I got to the surface I was face down and attempted to lift my head out of the water but was unable to, so I tried to roll over. When I could not roll over I realized I was in full paralysis. As I floated motionless my first thoughts were of my wife, my son, and my family. I then accepted that if I was to survive that morning I would be in a wheel chair for the rest of my life. My next thoughts were “OK, I’m at Westwards, I’m relatively close to the beach, there are people in the water that know me, it is a crowded day, the lifeguard jeep is on the beach, someone has to see me.”

As I was floating I watched the sand move around with the underwater surges. It was quite surreal and peaceful. I thought “Relax. Hold your breath.” As I lost my breath and released the air in my lungs I inhaled a mouthful of water, spit it out, inhaled another mouthful of water, spit it out, the third mouthful of water was the last thing I remember before I blacked out. The first person to see me laying face down in the water was a 12 year old little ripper who was in the water with Zach. She told him “Your friend is not moving.” Jesse was the first person to get to me and the other surfers in the water rallied to my aid. When Captain Snider reached me I was non responsive. My eyes were rolled back in my head and I was foaming at the mouth.

I must have been unconscious for about 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Suddenly I thought I could hear voices so I opened my eyes and tried to breathe. My lungs were clogged and I choked as I tried to clear them to breath. As I regained consciousness I realized there were two people holding me on each side. Captain Snider had my head in traction with what seemed to be the strongest hands I have ever felt. I realized I was close to shore when I saw Zach in knee deep water holding my surfboard, the cord still strapped to my ankle. Moments later they slid me onto a slider bar and rushed me up to the shoreline. It was hard to keep track of what was going on as there were so many people rushing around trying to stabilize me. My wet suit booties were pulled off and parts of my brand new 4/3 wetsuit were cut off. They kept asking me if I could feel anything as they touched my feet and hands, which I could not. As I struggled for breath I kept telling them to call my wife, my son, and my parents.

At this point I knew I would be air lifted to emergency care. They put me in the back of the Lifeguard jeep and drove me across the beach to where the ambulance was waiting. Every bump across the beach sent pain rushing to my neck and it seemed like it took ten minutes to go 100 yards to the street. As we drove I tried to move my hands and feet. I wanted movement so badly. As we headed towards the ambulance I thought I might be moving a toe on one of my feet. I asked the lifeguard if he could see any movement and he said yes. The lifeguards then transferred me to the Fire Department Paramedics for the 1.2 mile ride to the Zuma Main Lifeguard heli pad. As I rode in the ambulance I thought I was able to move a toe on my other foot and the paramedic confirmed that as well.

As I lay waiting for the helicopter to pick me up I was told I was going to UCLA Emergency. I had some movement, I was going to a quality facility, and the hope for recovery started to battle the feelings of despair. When the helicopter approached the heli pad they told me to close my eyes. My hair was still wet and as the helicopter landed I received a sand blasting and a new sand wig. They loaded me onto the helicopter and we were off to the hospital. During the flight I started to get some movement in my right arm. Around the halfway point I was able to lift my arm and flop it on my stomach. It would slide off and I would flop it back onto my stomach. I was starting to feel excruciating pain at this point and asked for drugs but was told I would have to wait until I arrived at the hospital. The flight seemed like it took forever. We landed and I was rolled into I.C.U. with a crew of what seemed to be about 16 emergency technicians.