How I Survived a 60ft Wave and a Broken Back - Andrew Cotton on His Horrifying Surfing Accident and the Road to Recovery

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Wednesday, 22 July 2026 - 55 minutes

A 60ft wave, a mid-air fall, and a broken back. This is the story of the day big wave surfing nearly ended Andrew Cotton's career. In this episode presented by host Claira Hermet, Andrew relives the exact moment his line closed out at Nazaré, forcing him to bail and take a pounding that bounced him 40 feet through the air onto his back, fracturing his L2 vertebra. He talks us through the terrifying rescue on the beach, what those first days in hospital were actually like, and the long, uncertain road back to full fitness. We go right back to the beginning of Andrew's story too, including the point at 25 when he'd given up on surfing entirely and retrained as a plumber, before an unlikely turn saw him become one of the very first people to attempt Nazaré, alongside big wave pioneer Garrett McNamara. He explains what it actually felt like laying eyes on Nazaré for the first time, what it means to surf a wave category before it even officially existed, and how he trained his mind not to panic while dropping into some of the biggest, most unpredictable water on the planet. Three years after his accident, Andrew returned to paddle out at the exact same spot that broke his back and he tells us what that moment felt like, and what it took to get his body and head back to that point. We also dig into the wider world of big wave surfing: the physical toll it takes on the body year after year, how safety protocols and rules have evolved at spots like Nazaré, and whether funding in the sport is finally starting to catch up with the risk these athletes take on.

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