Cover photo: WSL/Mariana Vilela 

“It’s quite scary not remembering anything,” reflected English big rider Tom Lowe on his Instagram after suffering the serious accident that nearly took his life at Teahupoo this week.

"Will this be the end of Teahupo'o for me? I really don't know. It will be hard not to return to this magical place," said the Englishman, accompanying his post with a photo in which he appears wearing an oxygen mask and quite bloody.

“So here we are. What are the chances of me nearly dying again at Teahupo'o the first time I surfed again? Thank God it didn't happen again,” he began, since he had already suffered a similar accident 14 months earlier that nearly took his life.

“Forever grateful to Vetea David and Sage Burke for rescuing and resuscitating me… My true guardian angels! I don’t remember anything about the accident other than coughing up water and blood in the marina,” he added.

“I was underwater for two or three minutes, the guys said... I must have been unconscious on the reef or passed out from being underwater (…) I wanted to thank Matahi Drollet and Guy Mac for bringing my family to the hospital, and the locals for always being so kind in the queue,” he said.

Regarding whether he'll surf Teahupoo again, he said, "For now, I'm just so grateful to be alive, to be able to be with my family here, and for the deep connection I've forged with the place and its people once again."

“Vetea David and I met here around 2008 and shared a snorkel. A few years ago, he came to visit me in the hospital after that first terrible accident. This has connected us forever. If it weren't for him pulling my lifeless body from the water, and for him and Sage Burke resuscitating me, Teahupoo would have taken me. I'm a lucky guy. Much love, and thank you all for your kind messages and prayers,” the Englishman concluded.

Lowe was rushed to the hospital after riding several waves underwater and was resuscitated by Vetea David and Sage Burke on the jet ski after being pulled from the reef.

He was informed at that time that he was stable and that he should rest because he had water in his lungs.

 

See this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tom Lowe (@tomloweyo)