Yep, the above pretty much says it all. That foot injury that Kelly sustained freesurfing at J-Bay in between contest heats that was supposed to keep him out the next couple of events is worse than first thought. “I’ll find out next week but the prognosis is now looking like 4-6 months recovery,” he said.
Here’s hoping that recovery is a speedy one but who knows, really? Slater even admitted as much. While The King didn’t immediately return an interview request, he did sit for one with the WSL’s Rosy Hodge during the event. “You sort of look at doctors when they’re looking at your X-rays and you hope he’s objective and the guy just went ‘what’d you do to yourself,'” he said. His doctor at home gave him a six-week prognosis before further examination of x-rays led him to the “5-6-month” estimate.
Slater tried to show a good attitude during the interview, but mostly looked to call the event’s action in the quarterfinal matchup between Gabriel Medina and Mick Fanning, in what almost seemed like an attempt to get his mind off the injury and stop having to talk about it. Slater of course broke the foot when he got tangled up with his board after pulling into a closeout barrel. His injury was disheartening for surf fans who hoped to watch the iconic regular-footer continue his hot Round 1 start at the iconic right-hand point break. There’s no guarantees they’ll get to witness this phenomenon unique to surfing again as the 45-year-old Slater has yet to discuss his future since the injury.
