Jack Baker's backwash lungbuster - video

Stu Nettle picture
Stu Nettle (stunet)
Swellnet Dispatch

 "I didn't wanna dog the backwash but I also had no real escape," said Cronulla's Jack Baker of this human cannonball at the Cape. "I knew I was in strife but I didn't know I'd land in the ER. This wave ruined my day."

Jack burst a lung, had internal bleeding, and according to Strohy at Southwave who filmed it, was "coughing up litres of blood."

Watch it over and over again...

 

A post shared by Southwave (@_southwave_) on

Photographer Charlie Straumeitis also witnessed it but was unable to shoot the action. "It happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that we had no time catch it," said Charlie. "With tele lenses on our cameras we were too close to catch the scale of the whole thing anyway."

"He was in a bad way when he managed to crawl back up the rocks - a big effort on his part considering his condition."

"One of the most bizarre wipeouts I've seen at the Cape. Ranks with Bones being washed up onto dry rock where the surfers jump off a few years back."

Photo below by Charlie.

Comments

Craig's picture
Craig's picture
Craig Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 8:01am

Getting boosted that far towards the rocks, lucky he didn't land on the shelf, although with those injuries it looks like he did anyway :o

chook's picture
chook's picture
chook Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 9:16am

jeebers!
you really notice those few extra secs in the swell period of this recent pulse.
hope he recovers soon

jimbrown's picture
jimbrown's picture
jimbrown Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 12:39pm

The horror...the horror

Tim Bonython's picture
Tim Bonython's picture
Tim Bonython Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 2:50pm

It made Koby's day.

tubesearch's picture
tubesearch's picture
tubesearch Friday, 26 May 2017 at 10:13am

Who cares?

GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 4:06pm

Reckon he has earned the right to buy a board and start standing up surfing! haha

billie's picture
billie's picture
billie Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 5:39pm

Good one GuySmiley, real smart (please note sarcasm).

Do you think we really need to encourage more mindless hatred? He charged, just give him some good vibes. It would be hard enough to paddle out knowing the risk of injury via violence.
I have noticed a lot of surfers give bodyboarders grief but when the waves are 6 foot and hollow they aren't having a go themselves. Are you one of them?

Good on him for having a crack!

Nick Bone's picture
Nick Bone's picture
Nick Bone Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 5:42pm

I didnt even understand the insult, but yeah, i dont understand why 'stand up' surfers give grief to body boarders. Thats some lame old boy back in 90's shit. Great point in wondering if guy would be out there 'standing up'??

Blowin's picture
Blowin's picture
Blowin Friday, 26 May 2017 at 6:10am

Is there a risk of violence for riding a bodyboard out there ?

tubesearch's picture
tubesearch's picture
tubesearch Friday, 26 May 2017 at 10:16am

Bodyboarders pioneered the place. Then thug stand ups stood over them and bravely declared they had discovered the wave. Pffttt.

Blowin's picture
Blowin's picture
Blowin Friday, 26 May 2017 at 10:49am

But you're not going to get attacked for paddling out are you ?

Will Frogley's picture
Will Frogley's picture
Will Frogley Friday, 27 Dec 2019 at 5:53pm

Know of more than a few guys who have been bashed simply for being out there

wesley's picture
wesley's picture
wesley Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 6:52pm

Holy shit!

GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 7:07pm

more mirth, thanks billie & nick, bait taken

peabo's picture
peabo's picture
peabo Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 8:29pm

What excellent trolling! Must be so wonderfully satisfying. I wish I had the skills to do it myself.

Zoooming's picture
Zoooming's picture
Zoooming Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 9:07pm

Ever surfed the Cape yourself Smileyguy?

GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 9:42pm

faaaaark, give it a rest you humourless lot.

Zoooming's picture
Zoooming's picture
Zoooming Saturday, 27 May 2017 at 12:06am

I'll take that as a "No". It's obvious you have no idea how close JB was to becoming an unfortunate statistic. He can count himself lucky that he escaped how he did. Maybe you should pop out to the Cape the next time there's some size about and show us how it's done. That'd give the humourless lot something to smile about.

AndyM's picture
AndyM's picture
AndyM Saturday, 27 May 2017 at 12:26am

Thank you SO much for sharing your journey with me, I’m so blessed and it really resonated with me.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and survivors.

Zoooming's picture
Zoooming's picture
Zoooming Saturday, 27 May 2017 at 8:02am

Time for your meds again Andy - you're drifting.

AndyM's picture
AndyM's picture
AndyM Thursday, 25 May 2017 at 11:23pm

Who woulda though that nerve was so close to the surface Guy?

GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley Friday, 26 May 2017 at 8:34am

indeed

chook's picture
chook's picture
chook Friday, 26 May 2017 at 10:41am

oh right, we're doing the attack the other guys thing again... and again and again and again. no problem, i got this one in the bag!

kneelos rule! we invented the shortboard, the modern fin, the twin, the quad, the fish and tube riding. get back on your dumb mals with your stupid wooden d-fins where you lot belong. now if i just put that little smiley thing in then it's all just a joke ... :) there you go.

stunet's picture
stunet's picture
stunet Friday, 26 May 2017 at 10:42am

A kneelo also pioneered Solander too (along with a fella on a paipo and a bodybogger). This is before bodyboards, though those fellas did hold it down for many years before the Maroubra crew came along.

trevortube's picture
trevortube's picture
trevortube Saturday, 27 May 2017 at 8:39am

imagine that feeling. seeing it, waiting, bounce, wondering, wtf, waiting,. waiting. crazy.
A kneelo. Wasnt Tim B was it. lol.
A bodysurfer was in that mix of pioneers I think stu. Have a vague memory it.

stunet's picture
stunet's picture
stunet Saturday, 27 May 2017 at 8:49am

Yeah, Adam Plata. Who ended up getting as far away from the coast as possible: he runs the roadhouse at Oodnadatta.

The first three to surf it were Ray Ryan, Steve Haig, and Steve Cohen, sometime in 1965.

Steve Doney was right up there too. Not the first but close to it.

GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley Friday, 26 May 2017 at 10:51am

I see this ire is going to have a shelf life greater than religion .....

billie's picture
billie's picture
billie Friday, 26 May 2017 at 5:28pm

It is likely you would be heavily intimidated and assaulted for riding a bodyboard out there. A friend of a friend was recently seriously threatened. Another friend was bashed and board taken from him, then destroyed. It was a slow, pack-menatality, unfair torture.

One of these men had been surfing there for many years.

I'm not directly upset with you GuySmiley but perhaps you don't understand the level of prejudice and criminal activity related to bodyboarding, especially out at Cape? And therefore the heightened emotions your comment could cause victims of these crimes?

I'm not a bodyboarder but I cannot handle that behaviour.

Have a great weekend everybody.

GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley Friday, 26 May 2017 at 7:39pm

Never seen that ever, surfed with two BBs today, only 3 of us out, we had a ball. If that is typical around your local is shit hole

billie's picture
billie's picture
billie Friday, 26 May 2017 at 8:41pm

Sorry GuySmiley, "If that is typical around your local is a shit hole."

What does that mean please?

loose_lips_sink_trips's picture
loose_lips_sink_trips's picture
loose_lips_sink... Saturday, 27 May 2017 at 9:22am

Just took a read of all this & find the perspectives on this one pretty interesting.

At first watch of that clip I chuckled about how that wave was doing the regulating & literally chucking him out of the line up.Natures own localism towards the bodyboarder.But then it dawned on me how close that guy was to possibly dying or suffering a lifelong disability...he was lucky,real lucky to be able to walk away to live another day.

Love it or hate it,I do think at wave like that there needs to be a established & enforced pecking order for everyones safety...A few months back I was fortunate to be in Cronulla area during a swell & paddled out to Shark Island and was blown away at how many bodyboarders of questionable ability were hassling,Falling out of the sky almost scorpion-ing their backs crooked and not making waves that could seriously kill you.The local crew surfing from what I could see definitely knew which waves were the real gems from the outside peak in & seemed to have a understanding with the some of the bodyboarders,but from a outsiders perspective it just looked like one huge bodyboarding accident waiting to happen with a hundred cameras there to catch the carnage.There must of been 80 plus crew out there.

On the flipside once the tide dropped,I went to Solander (this time watching from the check spot up by the road above) and you could definitely see the difference...About 10 guys,Some very well known,Some not..all taking turns with the rope along with one or 2 paddlers...Not one drop in or snake job that I could see..albeit a couple of bodyboarders did try their luck & almost instantly caused a accident with the tow crew by sitting right in the path of the approaching ski...Straight away they looked to be sent in from the water & I was told later pretty worded up.

The known intimidation and vibe from the crew that regularly surf Solander have probably saved a bunch of bodyboarders & surfers who could probably paddle out,but have nowhere the ability to deal with the power of that wave from seriously doing themselves in at since it became well known..Maybe the localism cycle there is in a recline as the 1st wave of enforcers settle down with family,were away or injured,but if there is ever a wave (near as a big a population that Sydney has) that needs that sort of localism to endure through the generations to protect crew from themselves its Solander.

blow-in-9999's picture
blow-in-9999's picture
blow-in-9999 Monday, 29 May 2017 at 8:17pm

Obviously the person in the wrong is the lids paddling not the crewing illegally towing? Got it.

I also almost run over pedestrians at crossings and tell them to fuck off after.

goofyfoot's picture
goofyfoot's picture
goofyfoot Saturday, 27 May 2017 at 6:05pm

Look I don't have anything against bodyboarders but do they all stick mushrooms down the front of their wetsuit like this guy? Is that for a mid-surf snack or wha?

AndyM's picture
AndyM's picture
AndyM Sunday, 28 May 2017 at 9:37am

Button mushrooms Goofy.

billie's picture
billie's picture
billie Monday, 29 May 2017 at 8:37pm

Loose_lips_sink...

Arguing with you, I fear, is like playing chess with a pigeon.

Such self belief in your shallow opinion beggars belief. Such effort taken to type so much so badly!

billie's picture
billie's picture
billie Monday, 29 May 2017 at 8:37pm

Loose_lips_sink...

Arguing with you, I fear, is like playing chess with a pigeon.

Such self belief in your shallow opinion beggars belief. Such effort taken to type so much so badly!