Felipe Cesarano, likely not sure exactly how he came to be where he is. Photo: Instagram//Screenshot
Every now and then, the severity of a wipeout surprises you. You’ll fall, thinking that it’s going to be just another wipeout. Then, somehow, you find yourself airborne and upside down, eyes shut tight and bracing for impact. That can happen on waves that aren’t even all that big, so when Felipe Cesarano found himself taking flight at a slab in Brazil aptly named Shock, the whole experience was likely a little… shocking. Pun intended.
You might not have seen too much of Shock, but it’s a wave that will test the best of the best. Back in March, Cesarano towed into a big one, tucked himself into a very sizable tube, and likely had a few brief moments where he thought he would be making it out unscathed.
The ocean, however, had a different plan. After the lip knocked him off balance, Cesarano landed on a weird wedge, didn’t penetrate, and was sent upside down into the air.
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Knowing the clip would likely attract more than a few eyes, Cesarano decided to use it to make all those eyes aware of something far more important than surfing.
“After a week in the middle of the biggest tragedy that ever happened in Brazil, I came back to do what I love most and God blessed me with perhaps the best wave of my life!” he wrote. “…I wanted to just write about the wave but I come here in this post to ask people to CONTINUE helping with DONATIONS because it will take a lot of help from all sides for all the people of Rio Grande do Sul to return to a normal life!”
He was, of course, speaking about the tragic flooding in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul that left hundreds of towns under water.
The BBC reported that at least 85 people died in the floods and about 150,000 have been displaced from their homes.
