Kelly’s debilitating foot injury sustained at J-Bay took him out of the rest of the year. Photo: Vimeo/Outerknown/KS Wave Co/Firewire
Editor’s note: Because of privacy settings, the video could not be embedded here. Click here to watch.
“If Conor McGregor were looking at this he’d say my foot is fooked.” That’s Kelly Slater’s headspace after receiving the devastating news that he’d need surgery on his right foot after doing serious damage to the third and fourth metatarsal.
Competitively, Kelly wasn’t at his height when he sustained the injury. After publicly revealing on Instagram that in 2017 he’d give the world title, “one last shot,” coming into South Africa with less-than-stellar performances meant the GOAT needed a miracle to remain in contention if it was even possible. A broken foot was the so-called nail in the coffin.
But what makes Kelly Slater such an incredible human is that in the shadow of that defeat instead of wallowing in self-pity, he gets out and does what he can to make a difference. That is to say, even with a bum foot he chose to take some time to greet kids from Surfers Not Street Children – an organization in Durban seeking to give at-risk youth an opportunity to discover an outlet through surfing. Much of the episode is devoted to bringing awareness to the organization, founded by Tom Hewitt. Many of the kids that have gone through SNSC have incredible stories to tell, including Ntando Msibi – a friend of ours.
This is the second episode of Kelly’s web series ‘Continuance.’ Check out episode one here.
