Big-wave surfer Alex Botelho has released an edit featuring footage from the last few winters mostly around his home in Portugal, with some A-grade Nias action also in the mix.
Botelho has spent most of 2020 recovering from injuries he sustained in the dying minutes of the Nazaré Tow Challenge in February. After being thrown from his jet ski, Botelho was left unconscious, floating face down on the inside. He was rescued by the safety team from the water, resuscitated on the beach, and taken to hospital.
It was later discovered that he'd been without oxygen for a full ten minutes after a punctured lung had filled with water. While, miraculously, he suffered no brain damage, he did lose 12 kilograms in the first few days and didn't have enough muscle to walk.
After three weeks in hospital, his recovery at home has been slow, but steady. He's been fishing, free diving, and rediscovering his love for surfing. Although he's still a little way off from heading out at Nazaré, where'd he'd been a standout over the last five years, returning to big waves remains his ultimate focus.
This clip is a reminder of the talent that Botelho possesses, the quality of the waves he regularly scored at home and the boundaries he was pushing at Nazaré before his injury. We've no doubt Alex will return to those levels and wish him all the best on his road to a full recovery.
Alex Botelho Just Reminded Us How Gnarly He Is In His "New Lost" Tapes Edit
Ben Mondy
Big-wave surfer Alex Botelho has released an edit featuring footage from the last few winters mostly around his home in Portugal, with some A-grade Nias action also in the mix.
Botelho has spent most of 2020 recovering from injuries he sustained in the dying minutes of the Nazaré Tow Challenge in February. After being thrown from his jet ski, Botelho was left unconscious, floating face down on the inside. He was rescued by the safety team from the water, resuscitated on the beach, and taken to hospital.
It was later discovered that he'd been without oxygen for a full ten minutes after a punctured lung had filled with water. While, miraculously, he suffered no brain damage, he did lose 12 kilograms in the first few days and didn't have enough muscle to walk.
After three weeks in hospital, his recovery at home has been slow, but steady. He's been fishing, free diving, and rediscovering his love for surfing. Although he's still a little way off from heading out at Nazaré, where'd he'd been a standout over the last five years, returning to big waves remains his ultimate focus.
This clip is a reminder of the talent that Botelho possesses, the quality of the waves he regularly scored at home and the boundaries he was pushing at Nazaré before his injury. We've no doubt Alex will return to those levels and wish him all the best on his road to a full recovery.
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