Photo: WSL / Stephen Robertson
Jeremy Flores won at Teahupo’o last year while wearing a helmet. Owen Wright is still recovering from a head injury he sustained while surfing Pipeline last year. It appears that Wright’s injury may not have been prevented by a helmet but Evan Geiselman’s similar, near-fatal injury at the same wave would almost certainly have been less severe, or entirely prevented, had he been wearing a helmet.
“It’s not debatable: wearing a helmet makes surfing safer,” Dr. David Gunn says. Gunn is Chief of Emergency Medicine at Queens General Hospital in Canada. His favorite places to surf are Indonesia and Morocco. “If you’re wearing a helmet, you’re less likely to get injured by your board or the reef. Losing consciousness can cause drowning. Helmets can prevent that.”
In Canada, where Gunn lives, ice hockey is incredibly popular. “When I was a kid, pro hockey players didn’t wear helmets because they thought it would make them un-cool. Now they all wear helmets and they’re still cool,” he said. “Most surfers don’t wear helmets because they think that if they do, the surfers without helmets will look more cool. Requiring helmets would solve that problem.”
But Dr. Gunn said he understands this may be an uphill battle. “I left my surf helmet at Macaroni’s Resort in Indonesia. I don’t know why I wasn’t using it. Finally, after bringing it on a few trips and not using it, my wife said I should get rid of it.”
Tom Carroll, owner of two world titles, is perhaps one of surfing’s biggest names who’s never seen in heavy surf without a helmet. Carroll started wearing a helmet after he met Steve “Beaver” Masfeller, a surfer who suffered a life-altering head injury at Pipeline. “He was never the same afterwards, on several important levels, two being speech and eyesight,” TC says. “Talking with him had a strong impact on me.”
Carroll says his helmet “saved my ass on more than a few occasions.” It takes time to get accustomed to the feeling of wearing a helmet, the world champ says, but in spite of his own experiences Carroll doesn’t support the idea of helmets being a requirement in competition.
Peter Acker is a Stanford professor, MD and surfer. “Sadly, we don’t have much data on surf helmets – the research just hasn’t been done — but we do know from research focused on many other sports that helmets offer excellent protection to the user,” he said.
Dr. Phil Chapman specializes in emergency medicine at Bunbury Regional Hospital in Western Australia, and is a medical professional whose views on the safety equipment have changed over time. “In the past I would have said no to helmets. But of late, I am changing my mind. We have seen tons of head trauma in WA — nose of board to face, fins to face/head. Also, more crowds, and this is especially relevant at high risk spots like Pipe. Look at the season just past. A few pros out for their entire career. Owen Wright might never be the same again. So I’d say helmets have their place. Forcing the issue? That’s a tough one.”
Over in Hawaii Dr. Reeo Kim works at the Queen’s Medical Center emergency department. He treated Owen Wright after his injury at Pipe. Kim said, “The truth is, this is a grossly understudied topic. Owen’s injury in particular brought to light the realization that these types of injuries (namely concussions) might be commonplace in surfing, yet very under-diagnosed. It made those of us who took care of him really reflect on how many other professional surfers, as well as recreational surfers, have suffered concussions and never known it. From my understanding Owen didn’t hit the bottom, or reef, with his head. It was more the jarring mechanism that caused his injury. In this case, I don’t know how much protection a helmet would’ve provided. Whether he was wearing a helmet or not, the jarring forces would’ve still done the same amount of damage. Evan Geiselmann’s injury, on the other hand, may well have been less severe, or entirely prevented, had he been wearing a helmet.”
Kim continued, “Whether or not the WSL is ready to implement and enforce a helmet rule is a whole different animal. With the lack of published research and evidence-based medicine looking at traumatic brain injury in surfing, I am reluctant to think that the WSL would implement such a rule. But the writing is on the wall. Especially given the direction in which other sports such as the NFL are heading, it is only a matter of time before the WSL follows.”
Dr. Adam Branoff works in the emergency department at Florida’s Baptist Medical Center. “There is no good data for surfing specifically, but generally this seems like a good idea… I don’t like athletes being mandated to wear helmets (or anything for that matter) but as a physician it seems like a good idea. Jeremy Flores won in a helmet last year, but (he wore the helmet) only because he suffered a concussion just before that. Interestingly, despite these injuries, I have heard no discussion from anyone regarding this topic. I’m happy this topic is coming forward. I’m planning a trip to Indo later this year, and plan to have a helmet in my luggage. If I’ll wear it or not is a whole different question.”
David Hateley is a surfer and doctor in northern New South Wales, in Australia. He offered a different perspective. “I don’t think that I would recommend them. The injury rate from surfing and especially surfing big waves is surprisingly low. We were surprised at the injuries from the North Shore winter this year, as there were a few high profile injuries: Gielsman, Durbidge (note: unlike Gieselman and Wright, Durbidge’s injury was not related to any head trauma) and Wright. But in a year they ran the Eddie there wasn’t much more than that. I think the danger in big waves is more from hold downs and drowning through that mechanism than head trauma per se. I think the risk of head trauma is similar in all sized waves because it is most likely to come from your own board. Or if you surf at Snapper, the million others.”
