View this post on Instagram
Dion Agius is a renaissance man. Though he first made a name for himself as a surfer, the Australian has since branched out (quite successfully) as an entrepreneur and artist. However, while traveling for the latter of those pursuits, the Tasmanian recently found himself in the hospital, recovering from a brutal snowboarding injury.
The incident occurred in Switzerland, where Dion was taking part in Tidal, a snowboarding-themed art show at the Riders Hotel in Laax. Naturally, he decided to take some time out of art-making for a run on the slopes. “Got a bit too excited to be finally snowboarding again after four years and got smoked catching a rail first day in,” he detailed in an Instagram post. “Somehow managed to land on the iciest patch on the mountain straight on my chest and ended up collapsing my lung and having to get rushed to the ER for an operation and ended up in the hospital for four days, hooked up to a machine to suck the air out of my chest. Definitely not the worst injury, but I wanted to say a huge thank you, especially to Luca for looking after me and getting me to the hospital and helping me out as well as all the Tidal crew for the amazing support.”
Though Agius was well taken care of in the Swiss hospital, the stay derailed his participation in the art show. To add insult to literal injury, he said he’s been left with a hefty $30,000-dollar bill – that his travel insurance will not cover. To that end, Agius will be selling art prints to go towards the expenses.
“Moral of the story is always double check your insurance and don’t be a kook and land on your chest on the ice,” he concluded. “Still so stoked to get healed up enough to get out and check out some amazing Switzerland scenery and be a little part of the epic show with a great crew.”
