Just before 10am local time this morning, Maui’s Dusty Payne suffered a serious wipeout after hitting the reef at Backdoor. Payne was underwater for five waves -- approximately a minute and 20 seconds.
“I was paddling back out to Pipe and I saw Dusty going for the wave,” said Big Island charger Jimmy "Ulu Boi" Napeahi. “It was a super steep drop, right where you don’t want to fall. So when he fell, I knew it was a nuts wipeout and started paying attention. Pretty soon, Keoki [Saguibo, longtime North Shore photog] yelled - I caught a little wave and beelined to Dusty and tugged on his leash to see if he was there.”
Ulu Boy continued: “Keoki pulled him up and was holding his neck; I had his legs straddled around my waist and my hands on his back so his neck was straight. Luckily, Keoki is a strong swimmer and a really good communicator. He was facing the waves and would call out when one was coming so we could spin sideways and go under. It was gnarly, ‘cause there was so much blood; it looked like Dusty hit his forehead on the reef and he was foaming at the mouth.”
“Finally, we got him to the beach and there was a lot of people there so we let the experts take over. And I don’t how bad it is - but Dusty was yelling and swearing right before getting in the ambulance, and that’s the best thing I have in my mind right now.”
As of press time, Payne is conscious and at the hospital.
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7 янв 2018
