British big wave surfer breaks back in horror wipeout 

This really is the scariest wipe out I have ever seen, he is blown forward with extreme high speed.

I've never seen someone get tossed like that after falling. That was wild

"it was a fine line between one of the best waves of my life, and one of the worst."

That was absolutely radical, from the wave to bail to the jet ski save, adrenaline 1000%. Glad he was safe at shore finally.

All the rescuers ran away when 2 inches of water came at them 😂

You don't fade at Nazare . Period.

Hello “Metro Newspaper UK”, I’m the legal owner of this video, did you guys bought a license to post it on RU-vid?

You gotta give some big props to that jet ski rider for putting himself in imminent danger like that. If you've never been in that kind of whitewater before, I have! And I can tell you, not only is it terrifying, it is tremendously powerful and can hold you down on the bottom for what seems like forever. Here's what makes it so terrifying...if you get caught off guard or unprepared or unfamiliar of the force that's coming, it will, AND IT DOES, knock every inch of breath outta you, like being punched in the gut which knocks the wind outta you, followed immediately by two more to the guts, AND THEN, throws you to bottom and knocks the shit outta you against the rocks and coral.....for the next 2 very very very long minutes. You'll see those big wave surfers almost always trying to catch the last wave in a set, because if they mess up on the 1st one, they already know they're at death's door, knowing there will be at least 2 more 10,000 ton waves right behind that one, which will keep them down there in a death roll! Seriously scary chit! Hope that dude recovered though! BE SAFE!

I can't believe he survived at all

can't imagine what that must've felt like when the barrel dropped?!? Massive props to the rescue. Well done 👍

is it just me or did he surf right into the danger zone instead of keeping right?

He suffered a compression fracture but he's walking - and hurting!!

Holy shit that ski man has some skills trying to take the outside. All first responders god bless y’all

Imagine all that water coming down & throwing you ?! Getting pounded on a 6 ft wave gets crazy , imagine this dude 😳

A 2 meter waver can really hit you hard and I can’t imagine what he has gone through here

This is horrific ... Thrusted 60 to 90 ft, broke his back and then rocked by 30 ft white water ... wtf

Definitely looks like the jet ski broke his back and not the wave!

enormous respect to you big wave riders..

That's as heavy as it gets

Looks like he fractured it on the wipe and then fully broke it from that dam rescue rider

Trying to barrel at Nazare !!! The guy is nuts and lucky to be alive.

imagine that jet ski ride with a broken back 😱

0:11 wrong decision to stay on the wave instead of keep the way out

Jet ski driver was like "you ready for round 2?"

what a brave and skillful rescuer... great

Wishing the very brave sportsman a rapid and full recovery. God bless.

I can't believe how far he flew!

100 km north Lisbon - Nazare - Portugal

Most brutal Wipeout Ever!

Horrible day for him and I can't believe he survived

Terrible wipe out. I've never seen a person thrown like that by a wave.I also wish the video would have captured the jet ski being hit by the wave and how that might have also injured Andrew. Being slammed by a jet ski (hundreds of pounds) thrown by a wave could really hurt you.

Your camera is broken, its beeeeping every 20 second!!!😂😂🤣

Nazare is just a pure death trap congrats for sending it through 🤙

That was beautiful triumphant and tragic all rolled together

I thought for sure he was going right. When he went for the left, I was like bro..... bad call

OMG! WHAT A WIPE OUT. LETHAL ACCIDENT HOPE THEY RECOVER

It is freaking amazing the power water has.... Thank God for the safety team....

Hope its okay for the surfer

Heaviest wave in the World for sure. Nazaré is one gnarly place, WOW!

That dude got absolutely hammered! Never seen anything like that before..

I'd rather be thrown like that than be under that mountain of water

You live only once they said but you die only once they never said

He not only broke his back but he also broke his crack.

Its painful getting hit by a decent size wave on a normal beach, cant even imagine this.

I don't surf but I could immediately see he descended that wave way to quickly.

Valiant bottom turn, reminds me of Sam Hawk on Big Wednesday in Five Summer Stories. Too bad he ate so much gas.

Hes back surfing now too

Homeboy got straight up shot out of a water cannon.... That's some serious power.

That's the worst spot to be at the worst time and he surf's right to it. Ouch!🤕

This was in Portugal! " O gajo ta fodido" was what was bleeped out

It looked to me like the jet ski rider heard him screaming when the jet ski bounced so he stopped and turned around. I have a herniated disc in my lower back. Anything that touches the spinal nerve is as the most pain you can ever experience. I cant even imagine a broken back and bouncing up and down.

That's sad. He'll never be the same again.

That is the biggest bounce I have ever seen! Speedy recovery brah!

This guy deserves a medal.

I have so much respect for the surfers, but at least as much for the jetski riders.

This is what an egotistic thrill-seeker puny human gets when he underestimates the omnipotence of the sea.

That’s like when youre in a car crash and the ambulance taking you to the hospital crashes. One of those doh, doh, doh, doh, doh kind of scenes.

Nazaré the best and scariest waves in the world

Cotton broke his back after a "split-second decision" that left him with a "dodgy [L2] vertebrae, but no complications." The British daredevil plans to heal quickly start rehab as soon as possible.

"British surfer" would be a sufficient disaster video headline, "horror wipeout" seems redundant.

Googled "gnarly"... sent me here.

Legend says it is still beeping

That looks like it was 100% the jetski wreck over the foam that snapped his shit.

Ouch! Sake that's gotta hurt, I hope he recovers well.

Andrew made the mistake of change direction from going right on the fat shoulder to going left on the monster hallow close out then the sleeping jet ski driver made things even worse !!! Speeding recovery to Big wave charger , Andrew Cotton and I hope everyone learn something from all this !! Peace for all !!!!

Giant balls to ride a wave that massive! Hard as feck he must be.........to survive a wipeout like that.....and lucky!

Just wanted to let all of you English speaking people know that the bleeped out word is: FODA-SE! 😂

Surfer : I think my back is broken help Rescuers : ahhh watch out the waters gonna get our feet wet

Surely that would have blown all the air out of his lungs before even commencing with the obligatory hold down.

The wave was like "Let me see him" and sucked him and but then realized he's shit and spit him back out like "Yeet!"

Nazare looks terrifying

Wave made a perfect hit and Andrew got broken! It's sad but when you go out in waves like that, you"re lucky to come back alive!!

You could see him flying when he gets wiped out

At first im like this is going to hurt but shouldn't be to bad. Once I saw him get picked up and thrown out the front of the wave im like this is really really bad!!!!!

Plot twist, he now stars in Broke back mountain.

Dont know how he managed to hold on the jetski with a broken back until reaching the sand

Hard spot for that kind of reskueing.

From hero to zero in 30 seconds

Talk about getting blown up. That was insane. He took a terrible line on that left. looked indecisive. glad he is on the mend and alive though.

For a comitater he sure knows how to talk like a sailor

Was it the wave or the ski that broke his back? Looked like he got took out at the end when the guy tryed to turn the ski in to the wave

In the ocean, you don't play with the nature, nature plays with you!

Fuck that shit. That was Ridiculously terrifying.

Im not blaming the jet skier. I blame the Russians, FBI directors, middle income women, conservatives, the internet, etc.

Can this dude cut out the beeps

so was there really no way the jet ski could make it back to shore before the wave?(or closer at least?) or was he just messin around..?

Mother nature said loud and clear, "Don't fuck with me."

Can I ask some question why British and Americans like doing extreme and deadly things

Oh nooooo please we gave to make a beautiful prayer ... Of our heart for him .... He is very strong ... I saw him ... And I am sure he will be fine ... I know it and I wish the better for him. Really really 🙏♥️

pick your game , take your chances ! best wishes to all who take risks out there.

When that stupendous wave crashes into the surfer from behind initially it tosses him about 30 feet in the air and dropped him down HARD like a big wet sack of cement. It's scary watching how easily the forces of nature can kick your teeth down your throat.

Even jet ski got wiped.

Now THAT'S A WIPEOUT !!!

please explain why the waterbike turns back to the sea instead of going to shore?

Oh no.. I hope he’s doing better now 😰

looks like the rescue did more harm than the initial wipeout

I wonder if he went back for more

1:12 going into 2019 like

Jesus! Could it have gone any worse???

If his back was broken it will not be able to hold onto the Jetski