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The Inertia

While surfing Sunset Beach five years ago, Luke Kennedy, the editor over at Tracks Magazine, sustained a gruesome injury that would make even a combat medic squeamish. The incident took place on an 8 to 10-foot, classic Sunset day, in which Mark Occhiluppo, Tom Curren and Ross Clarke-Jones were seen pulling into some massive, hollow tubes on the inside section. “Meters before I made it to the beach a large wave, thicker than it was high, reared up behind me,” explained Kennedy. “When I turned to push through the powerful wall of water, my board was ripped from my arms. While underwater an indiscernible part of the board struck me in the neck, with what felt like the force of a Mike Tyson punch.”

Immediately following the accident, Kennedy could neither breathe nor talk properly. The massive gash had left him with blood gushing from his neck and gasping for oxygen. He was ushered to the beach by a bodyboarder where he received medical attention by lifeguards until paramedics arrived and shoved a breathing tube down his windpipe and into his lungs. In the end, Kennedy survived. His accident was truly horrific and he is extremely lucky to be alive.

In Luke’s own words:

It’s been five years since I nearly died at Sunset, courtesy of being stabbed in the throat by my board. Although the footage of the incident has been available for some time, I didn’t feel comfortable sharing it until now. Just a warning, it’s pretty squeamish if you can’t handle the gory details. The full details of what transpired are at tracksmag.com in an abridged version of the story that appeared in the Sun Herald newspaper.

 
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