A surfer in Cornwall was attacked by a seal, broke his leg when pummelled by a huge wave, had to be rescued by a friend and then was told he was too tall to fit in the air ambulance sent to carry him to hospital.
Nathan Phillips’ own surfboard smashed into his leg so hard that it broke it in two, and as he struggled out in the waves, he was brought to shore by a friend on a paddle board. But the ordeal didn’t end there, Cornwall Live reported.
The air ambulance sent to ferry him to hospital was a smaller replacement helicopter than the one normally used by Cornwall Air Ambulance, and medics on board treated him, but said it was too small to fit the 6ft 2ins surfer on board. So he waited two hours looking at the open fracture of his leg, sitting in his friend’s van waiting for a land ambulance, and eventually made it to hospital after the accident on Friday (March 3).
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Now, friends have started a fundraising page to help the stricken surfer, who has been left unable to work as a self-employed builder because of the injury, and he has his second child on the way.
He told Cornwall Live: "I was paddling out and started being attacked by a seal pulling my leash. The waves were epic and after a few good ones I took off and the wave crushed me and my board went into my leg."
Fortunately his friend Pete was boarding close by. "I could feel the foot hitting the back of my leg," he said. Nathan was able to paddle half a mile on his belly towards land.
Coastguards were on scene to help him onto a stretcher and the air ambulance arrived. "Apparently I was too tall for it," said Nathan. Another friend, Dave, then cut open Nathan's wetsuit and the full extent of the injury was revealed.
"I could see it was an open fracture," said Nathan. A couple of hours went by in more agony and Nathan waited in his friend Kelvin's van. He was then transferred by land ambulance to Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske.
"I was so stressed that night I didn't sleep," he said. "I woke up to two of my friends setting up fundraising pages and I'm blown away by the how kind my friends are and how beautiful the surf community is down here in Cornwall.
"It's been really hard to thank everybody for saving my life on the day and also the donations as I'm unable to work now before the baby." The surfing community has rallied round and donations on both fundraising sites have already exceeded their targets.
Friend Jason Dreyer wrote: "Nate Dawg is a humble and hard working man, so this injury is going to put him out of work for the foreseeable. On top of that he is five weeks away from becoming a father for the second time.
"Nate would be too proud to start this page himself, so as his close friend I’m going to throw it out there on his behalf. This legend needs our help."
The GoFundMe page adds: "Luckily due to the to top efforts of a crew of surfers, paramedics and coastguards they got him to hospital where he's now awaiting an operation.
"We just want to see if we can throw the man a few quid to help him through some tough times ahead. If all of us that know him chucked him the price of a pint it will make a world of difference to him, his partner and their expected first child."
Nathan is no stranger to such kindness himself. In August of 2021 he donated surfboards to a young lad and his dad who were travelling in a car that caught fire on the A30, after he was contacted by a friend of the family via social media. Read the full story from Cornwall Live here.
Falmouth Coastguard confirmed they were called on Friday (March 3) just after noon to reports of a man injured in the sea. Rescuers stretchered him before he was transferred by land ambulance to hospital.
You can find the fundraising pages here and here.
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