Noosa Heads surfing incident leaves father of two with 16 staples in head

A father of two was left covered in blood after another surfer at Noosa Heads surfed over the top of him and sliced his head open. WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

A father of two was left covered in blood after another surfer at Noosa Heads surfed over the top of him and sliced his head open.

Derek Symons was surfing at the Noosa National Park carpark around midday Sunday when he was involved in a horrific surfing incident that he said could have left him with a brain injury or a ruptured spine.

The surfer of 20 years said the culture at the World Surf Reserve-listed area was disintegrating with drop-ins and aggressive behaviour becoming more frequent.

Mr Symons is out of the water for four weeks and still suffering headaches and shoulder pain following the incident that left him with 16 staples on the back of his head.

He said the altercation started when he was hit in the head with another surfer’s board, knocking him off his board and the wave.

Derek Symons had 16 staples in the back of his head after a surfing incident at Noosa Heads.

The Castaways Beach resident said a woman was surfing on another wave towards him.

He said he duck dived underneath the wave but her board’s fin cut his head and shoulder.

“I’m a strong paddler but there was no way I could’ve gotten out of the way,” Mr Symons said.

“When it happened I could feel the fin chop through my head … blood was instantly pouring out.”

He said earlier that day the same woman almost surfed into his wife.

Mr Symons paddled to shore at Little Cove beach where tourists and locals rushed to his aid.

“Everyone on the beach was really good, people called an ambulance and there was a family from Brisbane who helped me,” he said.

“People were freaking out over the amount of blood.

“It was pretty traumatic, it shouldn’t have happened.”

They went to the Noosa Medical Centre where 16 staples were used to close the wide, deep cut.

Noosa World Surf Reserve president and professional longboarder Kirra Molnar said the incident served as a reminder for surfers to show respect and know the rules in the water.

She said the World Surf Reserve committee was focused on grassroots education, including at schools to teach surfing etiquette.

“This is definitely one thing we look into, the etiquette and respect among the surfers,” she said.

“Everyone needs to look out for each other in the water.

Kirra Molnar said people should know surf etiquette before hitting the water.

“Our advice is if you’re in the water be respectful, learn the code and if you don’t know or aren’t feeling confident then don’t go out.”

Surfboard shaper Josh Constable, of Creative Army, said accidents would happen as the area became more popular with surfers.

He said there were similar concerns about most other surfing beaches in Australia.

But he said he believed the majority of surfers in the water were respectful.

“It still has some of the best waves in the world … on its day it is fantastic and people come from everywhere to surf it,” he said.

“It’s crowded out there and there are sometimes people who are out of their comfort zone and shouldn’t be there.

“But on the most part everyone is out there looking out for each other.

“That’s no different now compared to five years ago.”

Mr Symons said he hoped the incident would show the consequences of dangerous behaviour in the surf.

“It’s getting more aggressive and more people are cutting each other off and not caring,” he said.

“If you’re out there with the mentality of ‘I’m going to catch as many waves as possible and I don’t care about other people’ then something will happen.

“The competition in surfing is awesome and that’s how you get better and why there’s a lot of good surfers on the Sunshine Coast but you also have to be aware of other people there.”