Cornwall surfer Tom Lowe suffers serious injuries in 'brutal' big wave fall

Big wave surfer Tom Lowe is recovering in hospital from serious injuries after falling on a huge wave in Tahiti.

Mr Lowe, 39, from St Ives, Cornwall, was surfing at Teahupo'o last Friday when he fell on a wave thought to be at least 25ft (7.6m) high.

He said he hit the reef "hard" and suffered internal bleeding, a fractured scapula, and six broken ribs.

Trained lifeguard Mr Lowe has ridden some of the biggest waves in Ireland, Hawaii and around the world.

He told BBC News from his hospital bed in Tahiti that after taking off deep on the wave he was thrown forward.

"Teahupo'o is thick, heavy and beautiful at the same time," he said.

"When you fall here there's a high chance of hitting the reef and when you hit the reef, you're gonna get caught or broken.

"Basically you just try and cover your head and keep your limbs in so they don't get ripped out, which I did.

"I hit my side hard, it was pretty brutal."

He had to make it back to shore on his own, which took more than half an hour of kicking.

"No-one came to help, I couldn't talk, I could barely breathe," he said.

"So it was quite a process and very energy consuming and then I finally got to the beach and somebody helped."

After another half hour of staggering through the jungle he made it to an ambulance before being airlifted to hospital where he had surgery and a blood transfusion.

"My instinct told me I need to get to help otherwise, you know, I might not make it," he said.

He had surgery to "remove all the blood between my ribcage and my lungs".

"That tube was in me for days, just draining it out," he said.

"It was pretty ruthless, a horrendous pain, but I'm very thankful that I got the help I needed when it was critical.

"And I'm now just looking at hopefully being discharged today or tomorrow."

He had fallen on the same wave in 2006 and suffered a dislocated shoulder, he said, but was determined to return.

"I have history with this place, I really respect its power, yet I want to come back and challenge myself to tap into that energy," he said.

More than £34,000 ($42,000) has been raised in a GoFundMe appeal by US surfer Greg Long after Mr Lowe's medical insurance failed to pay for his care.

Messages of support have also come from some of the world's top surfers such as Kai Lenny, Nathan Florence and Jamie O'Brien.

"I had the worst insurance ever, which is something I'll never do again," he said.

"The medical bill was close to $40,000 (£32,000) and I've got to stay in Tahiti for another two weeks and it's super expensive."

His pregnant wife and daughter were flying out to see him, he said.

"I just appreciate more anything that all my friends and family and and even just complete strangers are just reaching out and spreading their energy love and chipping in, it's just amazing."

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