Are Surfers At Greater Risk For Concussions?

From big-wave chargers to average recreational riders, surfers may be at a greater risk for concussions than we think.

- Justin Housman

On a beautiful late-summer day in September 2015, Shawn Dollar was riding a wave at a remote break on the California coast when he fell and hit his head on a rock beneath the water. The impact broke his neck in four places and caused a massive concussion. Dollar once held the world record for the largest wave ever paddled into, and he’s been in plenty of terrifying situations in the ocean, but he had never experienced anything quite like this. Despite blinding pain, not being able to move his head, and total disorientation, Dollar was forced to summon whatever strength he could to get back to shore without drowning in a maelstrom of rocks and whitewater along the wave-beaten cliffs. Once on land, he navigated a tortuous hike to get back to the road, where a friend rushed him to the hospital.

After being treated for his neck injuries, Dollar could only wait for his bones and muscles to heal while he tried to gradually increase his mobility. For months, he wore a neck brace to aid his recovery while his vertebrae stitched themselves back together and his strength returned. Finally, in December of that year, doctors said he was free to remove the brace and to slowly resume his normal activities. Dollar figured that the worst was over, as did his friends and family, and assumed he’d soon resume his regular life as a dedicated wave chaser.

He was wrong. The hard part was just beginning.