A 43-year-old man is in a critical condition in Gold Coast University Hospital after being rescued and resuscitated following a surfing incident at Byron Bay’s popular ‘Wreck’ surf site yesterday.
About 2.40pm yesterday (Wednesday February 4), witnesses reported seeing a man fall from his surfboard in heavy seas at Belongil Beach.
The man’s head was seen to have hit on part of the wreck of the sunken ship ‘Wollongbar’, which protrudes above sea level.
The man was knocked unconscious and swept 300 metres along the beach before being rescued from the surf.
He was not breathing when taken from the surf and off-duty doctors who were at the beach immediately commenced resuscitation.
Police from Tweed Byron Local Area Command, ambulance paramedics, surf lifesavers and the Life Saver Rescue helicopter all attended the accident.
The man was winched up to the helicopter and airlifted to the Gold Coast University Hospital, where he remains in a critical but stable condition with suspected spinal injuries.
Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incident continue and police have taken his surfboard for further examination.
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