High surf gives body boarder close call
It was a Brazilian body boarder's second ride on the Pipeline.
And it was nearly his last.
About 4 p.m. on Saturday, 20-year-old Jose Forte Filho was knocked unconscious on the reef while riding waves with 20-foot faces at the popular North Shore surfing spot.
North Shore city Ocean Safety Capt. Bodo Van Der Leeden said lifeguards on the beach saw Filho wipe out.
After about 20 seconds, when he still had not come up for air, three lifeguards jumped into the waves and paddled nearly 200 yards to the Brazilian man's empty board.
Luckily, Filho's foot strap had held up in the surf, and he was still attached to his board.
A fellow body boarder held him above water until lifeguards arrived. They were able to lift him up onto a rescue board.
And minutes later, lifeguards on jet skis got there and towed the body boarder into shore.
When Filho got to the beach, Van Der Leeden said, he was not breathing. He did have a pulse, though, and lifeguards were able to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
By the time ambulances arrived, the body boarder was awake and talking weakly. He had a head injury and scrapes to his legs.
He was taken to the Queen's Medical Center, where he was recuperating yesterday and is set to get out of the hospital today.
"I fell into the waves," said Filho, adding that the next thing he remembers is the inside of an ambulance.
Filho, who is a competitive body boarder, arrived in Hawaii for the first time on Tuesday to surf the North Shore. He said he wanted to surf the Pipeline for fun, and plans to go back when he is well.
"These things happen," he said.
Van Der Leeden said it is rare that surfers and body boarders who risk the Pipeline on a high-surf day and are knocked unconscious on the reef make it out alive. The incident, he added, made the lifeguards who saved the man's life feel good.
"It was quite a rescue," he said. "It was really satisfying. And they all deserve credit."
He also said the body boarder "definitely got his Christmas present." Filho agreed, with a laugh.