Comeback Kid: Hayden Rodgers Recovery Story
Checking in with the up-and-comer after his near drowning at Pipe, and ahead of the Rip Curl Grom Search
Hayden Rodgers, Hawaii. Photo: Pete Frieden
Dashel Pierson
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As Kelly Slater stood onstage, accepting his award for the 2019 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, the mood on the beach at Pipeline suddenly shifted. It went from champagne and cheers, to panic and ambulance sirens.
“Watch out,” Slater said mid-speech. “Everybody WATCH OUT.”
The crowd scattered. Jet-skis zoomed onto the sand carrying an unconscious surfer. Hayden Rodgers, a 13-year-old San Clemente native who paddled into the lineup after the Pipe Masters finals, got pitched on a wave moments before, hit his head on the reef, and then was held under for two more waves. [Read the whole story from the sand here.]