Photo: Austin Gibbons // Instagram
Long Beach, New York surfer Austin Gibbons was involved in a tragic accident at Pipeline last Monday. After spending five days in a medically induced coma, Gibbons has woken up and is on the road to recovery. Now, with hospital bills mounting, friends and family have set up a GoFundMe to support him.
The accident occurred shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 5. Per the description on the GoFundMe, Austin endured a two-wave hold down, which filled his lungs with seawater. KHON2 News reported that nearby beachgoers saw him unconscious in the water and placed a 911 call just as the nearby lifeguard tower was closing. Fellow surfers brought Gibbons in to shore, after which off-duty lifeguards pulled him onto the sand and began to administer CPR. After several cycles, he regained a pulse.
From there, he was tended to by Honolulu Emergency Medical Services and transported to a nearby emergency room, where he was placed in a medically induced coma.
Recently, posts on social media have indicated that Gibbons is out of the coma and recovering. Sean Ruttkay posted an Instagram story in which he said, “Amazing news on our boy Austin Gibbons. After five days in a coma, he’s awake. He’s looking good. I saw pictures of him this morning, throwing shakas from the hospital bed.”
However, the ordeal is not over yet. Two days ago, a GoFundMe was started to help defray the mounting costs for Gibbons’ care, which include travel and lodging for his mother, Christine Eidt Gibbons, to be by his bedside. “We are asking you to help the Gibbons Family cover the mounting costs of the medical and lodging bills that are accumulating,” reads the description on the page. “Please keep Austin, his family, the medical staff and the heroic North Shore Lifeguards in your prayers.”
