Australia's Surfing Life Magazine

Smashed Skull From Overcrowding

Thursday, 14 January 2010 00:00

AndyM

What’s going on at The Pass in Byron this summer? Last Friday ten-year-old Pascal Dattler was critically injured when he was hit in the head by a beginner’s stray board. Poor kid’s skull was smashed into five pieces and he was only one centimeter from death according to Brisbane Neurosurgeons. As a result seven titanium plates were screwed into his skull, which will remain with him for life.

Pascal’s not the only one finding himself in strife out there recently. This summer has seen an increase in incidents at Byron’s most popular wave. According to Northern NSW Lifeguard Coordinator Scott McCartney, “There have been heaps of near misses, minor board clashes and several cases of people being hit directly by stray boards."

Pascal as he appeared in the Daily Telegraph yesterday.

We all know the east coast is grappling with an extended wave drought and the lack of waves over three foot is compounding the problem. “Beginner and intermediate surfers usually won’t go out when the swells solid”, said Scott. “But we’ve had the full range of surfers out at The Pass because it’s been small and peeling nicely with really workable sections for experienced surfers. Even experienced surfers can fall into problems when trying to dodge people.”

So how do the locals want to avoid the onslaught of beginners, backpackers, holidaymakers and surf schools who have the right to ride The Pass or any other wave in Australia? They’re appealing for a grading system of waves in NSW to differentiate beginner, intermediate and advanced breaks. The issue here is how to enforce the law. The last thing we need are jet-skis whopping around the breaks patrolling for beginners trying to thread barrels and shredders hunting down beginner/intermediate waves for launch pads and other sorts of trickery.

Do we, as surfers, want legislation? We don’t want to be told what to do, where to surf and how to do it. Surfing offers us an escape from the law of the land. Surfing offers freedom. And it needs to stay that way.

Perhaps a few kind words from surfer to surfer to educate beginners on where they should sitting if they are attempting waves out of their league… point out a mellow bank down the beach where the rest of the beginners are flapping around. Or perhaps more stern words to people attempting to drop in or snake or just generally making an annoyance of themselves. Often beginners don’t know the rules. We have to remember they haven’t all gone to surf school and learnt surfing 101 or read the dumbies guide on how not to make yourself a liability whilst learning to surf  - they need to be told, they need advice – polite self regulation is the key.

One message we can take out of all of this is go out at your own risk and speak up and offer helpful advice when you notice beginners doing something they shouldn’t, or anyone else for that matter.

Pascall will make a full recovery and doctors are amazed he had not died or suffered debilitating brain damage.

From all the crew at ASL, we wish you a speedy recovery and will see ya out in the lineup real soon buddy.

On another note what do people think of the Byron ski-slope grading solution? Could you see it working at your local or do you reckon there are better solutions out there?