Maya Gabeira came close to dying at Nazaré. You probably remember it. But after that awful day and a long, hard recovery, Maya is back at her beloved big wave spot. On October 30th, Gabeira strapped in and rode a wave at the spot that almost took her life.
The day of her accident was crazy. It was a huge swell, and Maya hit a bump–more like a full size wave on the face of the wave she was already riding–and broke her leg. As she tumbled down the face of a very, very big wave, it soon became apparent that this wipeout was not going to end well. When she finally ended up on the sand (after a franticly heroic rescue effort from Carlos Burle), she was blacked out, and she wasn’t breathing. The sight of her tiny, near-lifeless body on that broad expanse of beach, Burle doing chest compressions and desperate to save her life, was one that hit the public hard.
The aftermath of that wipeout was strange. While there was an outpouring of love and support for Maya, there was also a large group of people that seemed to be mad at her for it. Laird Hamilton was one of them. In a interview with CNN, he called out both Maya and her tow partner Carlos Burle, placing most of the blame for Maya’s presence in the line up that day on Burle.
I had lengthy conversations with all three about the situation, and if nothing else, it is a complicated subject. When does one cross the line between pushing one’s limits and overstepping them? And who are the watchdogs supposed to be in the latter situation? The most interesting part of speaking to Maya was her wholly accepting attitude about the fact that she could very easily die doing what she does.
During the course of my interviews with Maya, Carlos, and Laird (read the articles here and here), something that stood out to me was Gabeira and Burle’s devotion to each other – both of them, it seemed, would have each other’s back, no matter what happened. No matter what anyone said, it was as though they both shared an armor that was dependent on the act of sharing it.
Whatever the case may be, it’s great to see Maya back and pushing herself again. She’s a female big wave surfer that faces something most others don’t: people telling her that she’s not good enough; that she shouldn’t be doing what she’s doing; that she should stick to modeling. But despite all that, she’s putting her head down and doing exactly what she loves.
