Dramatic scenes on Gold Coast as surfer suffers suspected spinal injuries after being “speared” into sandbank

“Good lesson no matter how comfortable you are surfing a wave, always have to be extremely mindful."

A surfer has been airlifted to hozzy after a dramatic rescue at D-Bah, that remarkable little beach around the corner from the southern GC points and which is actually in NSW, this morning after he was, by all accounts, “speared into the sandbank” on a two-foot wave at around 8:45.

The photographer Mr Mysto was there for the subsequent group rescue at the northern end of the beach on the bank in front of Lovers’ Rock there and describes it thus:

“A group of surfers immediately stabilised the surfer in distress and signalled to me there was a problem. I alerted emergency services calling the ambulance at 8:57 to assist with immediate care. It took over fifteen minutes for Rain Beach Surf Life Saving to stabilise the individual before safety transporting him to shore where ambulance personnel then conveyed him to the hospital.”

Spinal injuries in small surf are rare as hell although regular readers will recall recent back breaking wipeouts for slab hunters Dylan Longbotton, Harry Hollmer-Cross and Nathan Florence.

And, last year, the former top New Zealand pro Max Quinn was forced to crawl for twenty minutes in “intense pain” and get airlifted to  ICU after he belted his spine on one of the South Island’s heaviest waves.

“Good lesson no matter how comfortable you are surfing a wave, always have to be extremely mindful,” he said.