"I no longer have any goals when it comes to surfing my only goal is to get my mind and health back to 100%…"
For the past two weeks, the Pipe local Kala Grace has been recovering in Queens Hospital, Honolulu, following a dramatic near-death collision with the infamous Pipeline reef during the Backdoor Shootout.
Grace, who is twenty-four, had his helmet ripped off after a closeout barrel and while caught inside was pile-driven into the coral bottom where he was knocked unconscious.
In a dramatic rescue, a lifeguard abandoned his jetski to pull the kid out of the water.
CPR was performed on the beach.
“He was kind of purple when they brought him in,” his daddy, the Waikiki Beach Boy Willie Grace said.
Shortly after, the North Shore lifeguard Chris Owens, who nearly exited this mortal coil when he was kneecapped by an adult learner at Waimea Bay, posted an update on Grace’s condition on Instagram.
“Many of you already heard he was a victim of one of the most severe surfing accidents of all time while surfing in the Backdoor Shootout yesterday. I just got off the phone with my life long best friend Fielding Benson who is Kala’s Stepfather and was told from him, Kala has regained consciousness, but he couldn’t speak yet, I think because of the breathing tube in his lungs, but Fielding said he asked for a pen and the first thing he wrote to him and his Mom Maryanne was: Did I win?”
Now, in a series of online posts Grace has hinted he may not return to the wave he’d made his own over the course of the last half-a-dizen seasons.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
“There was once a time where I lived and breathed pipeline. Everything I did revolved around it wether it was the way I ate, trained, or slept and everything in between.
“I promise I will be back one day but after my wipeout everything changed for me I no longer have any goals when it comes to surfing my only goal is to get my mind and health back to 100% before I can even think about that stuff…
Pointedly,
“Is Pipeline worth it, idk. Will I ever paddle back out there, I have no idea.”
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El Slammo is fully nuking!!! For The Dream!!!
If someone is revived on the beach it makes the surf news rounds
I hope Van’s digs into their deep pockets and takes care of the guy
Perfect thing for BG journalists to start covering.
linda benson rocked my lil world!
Trollformerlyknown looked into the abyss and decided to keep paddling.
“when the wave breaks here, don’t be there or you’re gonna get drilled…”
Logging off insta is the smartest move. Deep breath and a full recovery Kala 🙏
Find another dragon to slay. There’s many out there.
It’s wild how this doesn’t happen more often. He packed a normal looking closeout then got caught by a normal looking insider in a bad spot. Lights out. You would thing there would be a injury or death every swell if those are the ingredients that add up to a rescue worthy wipeout. Prayers for a full recovery and props to the water patrol. Best in the world at what they do.
Agreed. Its scary
I got attacked in the BG comments for saying the waves in Bali in July were scary when I was there in 2022.
So Odog was truth.
Kala Grace got hammered by a wave so hard that it sent him into space, water patrol risked it all to keep the legend ace, now he’s in recovery he’s not sure he wants to keep the pipeline pace.
Hopefully he gets healthy and gets that motivation back.
Hope he has a full recovery. Would be great to see him back out there but godspeed for wherever his journey goes.