The big-wave surfer recounts the final moments before she lost consciousness after wiping out on the ‘biggest wave ever’ in Portugal
To call Maya Gabeira “fearless” would be to misinterpret her confidence. The big-wave surfer is as aware of the dangers of her sport as anyone watching her, amazed, from the beach. But perhaps no reminder is quite as fresh on the lips as her recent accident at Portugal’s big-wave break Nazaré, where she nearly drowned in late October after she hit a bump and snapped her ankle, causing her to wipe out on what’s been touted as the “biggest wave ever.” Unable to hold onto the rope her tow partner, Carlos Burle, was desperately trying to get to her, and Maya was swallowed up by the unrelenting sets and lost consciousness in a moment she remembers now as “spiritual.”
Burle was eventually able to … More