Koa Rothman has spent a lot of his life getting smashed by giant waves. Like anything that smashes your body, it takes a toll and for Koa, that toll came in the form of a herniated disc in his neck. But now, after a surgery in California and some rehab, he’s finally back in the water. And Koa Rothman’s first surf was full of pure joy.
“You have vertebrae in your spine,” he explained. “C5 is a vertebrae and C6 is a vertebrae. In between every vertebrae, there’s this little squishy disc of cartilage that allows your body to move and function however you move. What happened to me is that I actually herniated one of those discs.”
For the average surfer, taking time out of the water can be painful, especially if you’re lucky enough to call surfing a routine. For Koa, a man who surfs for a living, two months out of the salt was likely quite a bit worse.
“I honestly don’t even remember or think I have ever gone that long out of the ocean. Even with past injuries, the longest I was out was maybe a month.”
And so, with an expression like a kid on Christmas morning, Koa Rothman paddled out on a soft top to Topanga and went surfing. Then, since he’s been in California for a while now and needed a bit of help with rehab, he headed up to Laird Hamilton’s Malibu house to do it.
