“That wave must’ve just drove you straight into the reef.”
Christmas Day held little joy for the Peruvian surfer Joaquin Del Castillo, a surfer known for the kinkiness of his aerial game as well as a proven ability to impound himself in the Pipeline palace.
Joaquin, who is twenty eight, suffered ten, yeah…ten, hip fractures after a catastrophic Pipeline wipeout, a wild old run for the joint which already has six scalps hanging off its belt only one month into the season.
World number four Joao Chianca was dragged unconscious from the water at Pipe by teenage surfer Jake Maki, Teahupoo kingpin Eimeo Czermak lost the use of his legs and got belted with a concussion after going over the falls at the Vans Pipe Masters, Koa Rothman left a little of his face on the coral, a helmeted Pipe novice was pulled from the water on a pretty four-foot day after a wipeout that knocked him out cold and, most recently, Kai Lenny was concussed after splitting his helmet open on the reef during his SUP heat at the Backdoor Shootout.
In an Instagram post, Joaquin shows the x-ray of his pieced-together hip, along with the swinging fullness of his ball-bag, the scar, and asks surfers and any fans to continue sending cash into his GoFundMe account ‘cause he limped away from hozzy with a one-hundred gee bill in his pocket.
So far, he’s raised around twenty gees.
“Two weeks into my operation after breaking my iliac bone in 10 pieces surfing Backdoor, I’m already at about 20% of the total Hospital amount,” he writes of life post-Pipeline wipeout.
“I am home @tubos_surf_school on the North Shore where I will continue my recovery with the goal of walking again for now and eagerly waiting to get on a plane and go home to Peru.”
Throw a shekel (or Sol) into the pot here.
