Surfer Owen Wright’s emotional road to recovery from brain injury suffered at Hawaii’s Pipeline

SURFER Owen Wright’s battle to overcome a traumatic brain injury suffered at Pipeline last year has been an emotional rollercoaster. Amid the hard times though, there have been pockets of joy.

Owen Wright is considered one of the world’s great big-wave surfers but is now battling back from a brain injury sustained at Pipeline. Photo: Luke Shadbolt

FOR the past 10 months, former pro surfer Luke Munro has joined almost 280,000 people in watching a real-life drama unfold on their computers, tablets and mobile phones.

Devastation followed by confusion. Hope tempered by fear. Frustration mixed with resilience. Little steps. Big dreams. Romance aplenty and a leading man worth cheering for.

Not to mention the cutest baby bump you’ve ever seen.

The platform for all this drama? Surfer Owen Wright’s social media accounts.

“I’m just glued to his Instagram to see the little steps he’s been making,” Munro said of the 26-year-old’s lengthy and ongoing battle to recover from a traumatic brain injury sustained in the pounding surf of Hawaii’s legendary Pipeline last December.

Surfer Owen Wright has shared details of his journey back from injury with his Instagram fans this year, including the news that he and girlfriend Kita Alexander are having a baby. Photo: Instagram

“I just don’t think anyone knew how bad Owen’s injury was at the time … everyone thought ‘He’s hit his head, he’ll be right’ but then the extent of the injuries became clear.

“He wasn’t able to talk. He couldn’t remember anything from the day before … he’s a guy we all thought was indestructible, so it must be so frustrating for him.

“That’s why I was so happy when I recently saw photos of him looking really sharp on that little left (wave) because you go back a few months and it was nowhere near as positive.”

Other than social media updates and a short interview with a surfing magazine six weeks after being injured, Wright has not spoken publicly about his emotional journey. That continued this week, with the Lennox Heads surfer and his sponsor Rip Curl both declining interview requests.

The professional fate of the man who was a contender for last year’s world title at the time he was injured remains unknown but four weeks ago he posted: “Turned the biggest corner this week with the head injury. It’s good to be feeling a lot more like myself again.”

Owen Wright was a leading contender for the 2016 world title before being injured.

Such optimism is a long way from the despair of earlier this year when Wright and his loved ones struggled to comprehend how what seemed a normal event – at least by Pipeline standards – had evolved into the scariest situation of his young life.

Having wiped out while preparing for the end-of-season comp, a succession of heavy waves rained down on Wright and he eventually came to shore. Despite initially seeming fine and returning to the Rip Curl team house to rest, he was soon rushed to hospital.

“He couldn’t really speak or anything,” close friend and fellow surfer Matt Wilkinson said at the time.

“It was like his body was completely out of fuel. It was pretty scary looking.”

Soon after Wright confirmed severe concussion and a “small” brain bleed had forced him out of Pipeline and the world title race.

And that was just the beginning.

Owen Wright doing what he does best. His fans are hoping he will one day return to the pro surfing world tour.

“If you injure your brain, everyone else has to be your brain for you,” Wright said six weeks later as he battled memory and function loss and underwent extensive tests in search of answers.

Surfing was out of the question. Competing on this year’s world tour was soon forgotten.

The extent of his battle was never more evident than when he described going for his first surf almost four months after his injury.

“I couldn’t get to my feet so I just lay there,” he said.

“(The wave) was about knee high … but it felt like I was dropping into 10ft Teahupoo (in Tahiti).”

Munro said: “It’s like he’s had to learn to surf all over again, just standing up and then progressing to a Mal (longboard).

“In surfing, no one had ever really encountered a really bad brain injury like this before.

“Unlike league or other sports, he had no one to really look to in terms of a road to recovery.”

Former pro surfer Luke Munro was ‘bawling his eyes out’ the day Owen Wright made a surprise appearance at this year’s Roxy Pro. Photo: Mike Batterham

Amid the gloom, however, there has been joy.

Wright has watched younger sister Tyler rise to the top of the women’s world rankings, most famously at Snapper Rocks in March when he made one of his first public appearances to celebrate her win at the Roxy Pro.

“He’s obviously had to do some soul-searching in the last six months but that was the coolest thing,” Munro said.

“He still needed help to get around and I was watching on TV at home and bawling my eyes out. I saw him later that night at Mick (Fanning’s) party and he was spent.

“He wasn’t drinking but he had had it. He was upstairs in a quiet place with his girlfriend and a mate.”

Indie musician Kita Alexander has been a great support for Owen Wright during his recovery. Photo: Instagram

That girlfriend also inspired the most moving Instagram post of Wright’s recovery.

Alongside a photo of indie musician Kita Alexander showing off her baby bump, he wrote: “I’ve gone through some really challenging life experiences this year but the most amazingly beautiful thing has come out of it. Enjoying every moment but the future couldn’t look any better.”

Whether that future includes a return to the world tour is anyone’s guess, including a man with the greatest respect for his surfing ability.

“One bad fall can really rattle you … but I hope he does come back,” Munro said.

“The first time I saw Owen Wright was as a 16-year-old, long blond-haired kid just charging scary, scary Pipeline when most of us were just watching because we didn’t want to get hurt.

“If Owen is right, his potential is untapped.

“If he can get back, he could win multiple world titles.”