Tom Lowe has broken his silence following a near-drowning in Tahiti.
The British-born big charger surfer was surfing Chopes last Thursday, when he took off on a wave, got clamped by the foamball, and endured a multiple wave hold down. Luckily, a few surfers and lifesavers – Sage Burke and Vetea David – were in the water at the time, and rushed to his rescue.
With a bloody image from the hospital, Lowe shared:
“So here we are. What are the chances of having another near-death at Teahupo’o the first time back surfing it. Thankful it wasn’t my time again. I don’t remember anything about the accident at all, besides coughing up water and blood in the marina. I was under for 2 or 3 minutes the guys said…must have got knocked out on the reef or blacked out from the hold down. Feels pretty scary not remembering anything.”
James Ferrell, a photographer and filmer, was there to witness the ordeal. Here’s what he saw:
“We watched Tom take off on a wave. Super west bowl one. He made the drop, just didn’t have enough speed, and he hit the west bowl foamball area. He kinda did a cartwheel in the barrel. We saw him get sucked over. Naturally, we were looking behind, and waiting to see when he popped up. We didn’t see anything. A couple bombs come through, and we still don’t see him. We motioned over to Poto [Vetea David]. Then we started seeing a board tombstoning. It was like four or five waves; it had probably been like one or two minutes. So, Sage is like, ‘I’m going in.’”
Related: Tom Lowe Hospitalized After Teahupo’o Wipeout
To his rescuers, Lowe said: “Eternally grateful to @veteadavid and @sage_burke for rescuing and resuscitating me…my true guardian angels!!”
And this comes just over a year since Lowe nearly died another time at the very same spot. That time, he got pitched on the take-off, fell headfirst into the reef, punctured a lung, and broke a handful of bones. With his body mangled, he doggy-paddled his way to shore in that instance.
As for the most recent near-death incident, no word on the extent of his injuries. But Lowe reflected:
“Will this be the end of Teahupo’o for me…I really don’t know. It’ll be hard not to come back to this magical place again. For now I’m just so grateful to be alive, to be able to be with my family here, and for the deep connections made with the place and people once again.”
Shoutouts to Sage and Vetea for the rescue. And here’s to a speedy recovery for Tom.