Timmy Paterson is a bonafide luminary in the world of surfboard shaping. Photo: The Inertia
Timmy Patterson is on the road to recovery after a medical emergency landed him in the hospital. On Wednesday, June 10th, the renowned Dana Point shaper was surfing during a sizable south swell when he endured an as-yet unconfirmed medical ailment. Photos just before the incident show Patterson on a larger board (presumably a gun), somewhere on the south Orange County Coast.
“I’ve spoken with his sister Diana Patterson and he is on Life Support in the ICU,” wrote Randy Ashley in a Facebook post. “He was surfing and ended up in a drowning situation (possibly a heart attack).”
At the time of that post, Patterson was in an induced coma in order to effectively treat him. However, subsequent social media updates indicated that his condition had improved just a few hours later.
“(This photo was) taken shortly before the accident that nearly took his life. Forever grateful to his amazing son for saving it,” wrote Heather Fish in an Instagram post. “Breathing tube out, spirits high! Talking, joking and expected to make a full recovery!”
In a town full of world-class shapers (so much so that San Clemente has an entire district dubbed “the surf ghetto”), Patterson still stands out. He started off in-house at the venerable Hobie Surfboards before striking out on his own and building wave-riding craft for some of the world’s best surfers. In recent years, he’s become renowned as WSL champ Italo Ferreira’s preferred shaper.
T. Patterson Surfboards representative Scott Metzner told The Inertia in an email that Patterson is expected to be back home as soon as tomorrow, and could be shaping again within a week.
