Makai McNarama is out of the hospital and recovering at home after a near-death wipeout at Pipeline. Photos: Liam McNamara//Landon McNamara//Instagram
Makai McNamara recently came very close to dying at Pipeline. Thankfully, news broke on Sunday that the 29-year-old has been released from the hospital and is “100 percent healthy.”
Makai comes from a prominent North Shore family that includes Pipeline icon Liam, big wave/Nazaré legend Garrett McNamara, and Eddie Aikau winner Landon. He is a fixture himself at the crown jewel of the North Shore’s crown.
During a seemingly never-ending run of swell at Pipeline, Makai was pulled unconscious from the surf at just before 9 a.m. on February 23. The scene was a harrowing one. After a particularly bad wipeout, a handful of Makai’s friends, including Eli Olson, Koa Rothman, and Koa Smith pulled him closer to shore. North Shore lifeguards hit the water and managed to get him back to the beach, where they performed CPR and used a defibrillator. Luckily, they were able to get a pulse, and Makai was was rushed to the hospital.
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Even still, it was touch and go for a while. He was admitted in critical condition and placed in a medically induced coma to help his body recover from the trauma. According to some reports, McNamara was underwater for two minutes.
A few days later, on February 27, Liam McNamara announced that his son “was talking and 100 percent coherent.”
Now, a week after the accident, more good news: Makai is out of the hospital and recovering at home.
“So grateful to have my big brother here,” wrote Landon McNamara. “The most mellow McNamara. The Pohaku holding it down through the highs and lows of our family. Grateful to all who saved him from the ocean, to the beach, to the hospital, all the positivity and prayers. [It] was a divinely orchestrated unified effort. I believe God was working through all of you. We live, we learn, we keep on going. Put your best foot forward, lead with love and fight your fears. Don’t wait till tomorrow. This moment is all we hold. Revel in it.”
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