On October 7th around 3pm in the afternoon, local Maui charger Tide Rivers pretty much watched his life flash before his eyes. While getting to his feet at the popular surf spot called La Perouse, his hand slipped off the rail, and he went over the falls head first. Typically a good dolphin dive out the back should suffice this situation. Unfortunately Tide’s surf board beat him to the bottom of the wave, where he plunged head first directly into his board. He felt his entire body compress on impact and immediately knew he had really hurt himself, and was possibly  paralyzed.
 
While he was under water the fear of drowning suddenly masked the overwhelming pain he was now feeling. He had to scream at himself under water to move his broken body and get to the surface.  Suddenly he had some feeling in his toes and it took every bit of physical and mental strength for Tide to get to the surface. He was able to get one breath of air before the next wave hit.  Then he went down again. He knew he was seriously hurt, but at least he had feeling in his arms and legs. After the wave hit him, Tide barely had enough energy to signal to a good friend for help. Fortunately he happened to be a retired lifeguard, who immediately went to his aid. Another bystander saw what was happening and rushed in to help .  Tide's twin brother Kiva was still on the rocks getting ready to paddle out and realized that his brother was in trouble. Kiva rushed out to assist Tide to shore.  Tide was barely conscious and was in an incredible amount of pain. The team towed him into the shore break, and carefully helped him out of the water. Mind you, this surf spot is an old lava field, and nothing about the terrain was easy. With the help of his friends, Tide was able to get out of the water, and carefully crept back to the truck (1/4 mile hike over lava field.) Every step he took made him re-live the injury. Should he have been medevac out? In hindsight, yes. However, no one knew what the extent of the damage was quite yet. It’s crazy how adrenaline can override the pain and the decision making process.
His brother carefully drove him to the hospital. Every bump, turn, and brake sent an unexplainable amount of pain throughout this body. It was the longest drive Tide had ever taken.
 
Fast forward to the next morning, with two CT scans, one MRI and multiple x-rays later, Tide was informed that he had broken 6 vertebrates (with his T-5 being 50% compressed), fractured 9 ribs, fractured his sternum, and punctured his left lung. The good news is there’s no paralysis. The rough news is that he’s going to be in a ton of pain and dealing with a very long road to making a full recovery. The doctors are saying at least a year, with countless Dr. visits and physical therapy sessions. He’s currently on day 10 of being in the hospital, his pain levels are extremely high even with a morphine drip. He’s forced get up and slowly to move around for a few minutes each day, otherwise he is completely laid out on his back counting each hour that goes by.
 
Tide is no stranger to big heavy waves. He’s been out at Pe'ahi when it was massive many times. He’s a long time stand out at Honolua Bay when it’s cracking. He loves to push his limits on some of Maui’s secret slab waves, but ironically he almost lost his life in playful size surf. Please send some prayers and positive healing energy his way. He has a 5 month old baby girl and fiancé at home who can’t even visit him because of the current virus circumstances.  Your kind words and prayers will go a long way. If you feel like helping Tide out with his medical bills and his long road to recovery we have a GoFundMe account set up. Any donations will go a long way and are very, very much appreciated. Mahalo Nui – Tide's Ohana