Surf Video – Andrew Cotton’s BIGGEST WIPEOUT of the Year – WSL Big Wave Awards Winner 2017/2018
November 8, 2017 – Nazaré, Portugal Professional Big Wave Surfer, Andrew Cotton (UK), suffered a horrific wipeout during a Big Wave Session in Praia do Norte in Portugal, and was taken to the Hospital, after hurting his back. This exclusive footage shows the wave and the moment Cotton is catapulted into the air, and the all aftermath until he is moved to the Ambulance.
Cotton caught a monster wave, and successfully rode it till the end. When the wave closed out, Cotton jumped from his board and was then projected into the air several meters high by the huge white water explosion. After the huge wipeout and after being held down underwater for many seconds, Cotton was hit by another wave on the head before being rescued by his partner professional Big Wave Surfer, Hugo Vau. During the rescue operation, the jetski was flipped by another wave, and both Cotton and Vau had to swim to the beach.
A Medical Team on site promptly attended Andrew Cotton soon as he got to the beach. At this moment cotty was with pain on his back, so they immobilised him as a precautionary measure. He was then taken by Ambulance a few minutes later to the Hospital.
According to filmmaker Pedro Miranda who shot this video, “he broke his back but is stable and recovering good and has no further damage, except being away from the water for maybe 3 months. We all wish him the best and a fast recovery, this was by far the gnarliest wipeout of the Season, stoked that Cotty is recovering”, the filmer said.