Photo: WSL/Aaron Hughes
On December 3rd, 2023, then-world number four ranked surfer Joao Chianca scrapped into a Backdoor bomb, hit the eject button, and went down…hard.
For a wave like Pipeline and Backdoor, on the surface, it was a routine wipeout.
Related: Video: World #4 Pro Surfer Joao Chianca Hospitalized After Wipeout at Pipeline
But underwater, things got serious. Chianca whacked his head on the reef, was knocked unconscious, and took multiple waves on the head. He suffered a fracture, concussion, and bleeding in the brain. In other words, he nearly died.
He was rescued by the North Shore Lifeguards, sent to the hospital, and spent two weeks under close observation. As a result, he withdrew from the 2024 World Surf League Championship Tour; not to mention, his appearance in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics at Teahupo’o, Tahiti – yet another heavy lefthand reefbreak – was in question.
However, in the time since the injury, Joao has been making small appearances back on the board, including a new edit. As SURFER’s Zander Morton mused, “Chianca rips the bag out of the small stuff (as expected), but he also jumps right back into the deep end on the bigger days, rushing a shallow slab with absolutely zero signs of PTSD.”
Now, Chianca is back in competition. At the Surf City El Salvador, currently underway, Chianca, clad in a helmet, has made his way into the bracket stage of the event, taking down current #3 Griffin Colapinto, and next, 3x world champ Gabriel Medina.
Related: After a Terrifying and Traumatic Head Injury, João Chianca Is Back in Blistering Form
Quite the comeback, since the head injury was pretty serious. Near deadly, in fact. And he’s looking good. Could he go all the way? At least a solid result? The Olympics?
Stay tuned.
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