What a toughie!!!!!!!! Hope the injuries heal well and scars are minimal. Hats off to you Keala for tacking a day that over 99% of surfers would not even think of heading out in.
Female pro-surfer Keala Kennelly suffered a serious and shocking facial injury after being blown off her board during an expression session in memory of surfing icon Andy Irons at the Billabong Pro in Tahiti.
Big wave surfer Kennelly underwent surgery to the right side of her face after smashing into the Teahupoo reef.
The Hawaiian had forty stitches – 30 at the front on her face and ten in the skull.
Doctors also removed a piece of coral that was embedded in the wound.
Kennelly tweeted this picture of her horror injury after the incident, which she described as like being in a car crash, telling fellow surfer Kelly Slater “here is that pic I told you about. (it looks way better now I swear!)
You can see her wipe out at 1:50 in this vid.
Keala had a heavy wipeout but how was the next wipeout
How does someone physically survive a wipeout on a wave that big
Read Steve Shearer's account of the big tow in day - best surf article ever written IMO:http://www.swellnet.com.au/news/2564-the-outsider-death-mask-pt-2
PS that pic freaks me out!!!!!!!!
She had some pics of her surgery on Facebook. It's amazing how well the wound looks all closed up on the operating table. I don't know what they use to close up a wound like that, but if they are stitches, I didn't see any. The line was very fine, kind of like a piece of china that had been glued back together. I'll bet the scarring will be minimal
Strong lady.
