his injuries are severe. i hit so hard i had two brain contusions with a helmet on. my collarbone was shattered in half in four places. torn rotator cuff. two broken ribs. a bruised lung and chemical pneumonia. this daredevils cameraman can barely move but still directing the action from his hospital bed. let s get that shoulder. got it all? it was the most excruciating pain you could ever imagine. broken bones are like a picnic compared to the pain i felt that day. love you, larry. thank you, man. in pain, sure. happy to be alive? definitely. i m grateful for my good friend larry that save saved the day. ray spends nine days in critical care and takes him a full year to recover. when finally does get back in the ocean he says he is not heading straight for the bonzai pipeline any time soon.
i m in deep, babe. you certainly are. [ male announcer ] fiber one. the waves get really big and that gets the adrenaline going. makes it all worth while and makes life worth living. larry haines and ray hollowell are professional cameramen but you won t find them in a studio or on a set, this is their office.
such power it creates this huge barrel. to get in the barrel and make it in the barrel and get spit out it the ultimate. and to capture that on film is just exhilarating. they have been shooting the pipeline to know that ideal conditions for riding waves don t always mean safe working conditions for them. it was one of those days. it was very low tide and very dangerous. 14-16-foot faces. low tide means huge waves and aid mazing footage. watch that wall of water crashing right over ray as his camera catches all the action. it was a great day. it was pretty epic. but we see a break this on the outer reef and larry and i realize we are really deep in the pit they call it which is the impact zone where the wave breaks. caught between a crushing wave barreling down on them and the jagged rocks on the reef below ray and larry start
out is the ultimate euphoric feeling. to capture it on film is just great. shooting the pipeline long enough to know that ideal conditions don t always mean safe working conditions for them. it was one of those days. it was very low tide. very dangerous, 14, 16-foot faces. low tide means huge waves and amazing footage. watch this wall of water crashing right over ray as his camera catches all the action. it was a great day. it was pretty epic. this big set. we see it breaking on the outer reef. larry and i realize we re really deep in the pit, they call it, which is the impact zone where the wave breaks. caught between a crushing wave barreling down on them, and the jagged rocks on the reef below, ray and larry start frantically swimming as fast as
i grabbed him, swung him back, got his head out of the water, leaned him back. grabbed him and started squeezing his belly. another surfer sees larry swimming ray ashore and offers his surfboard. they start carrying him out. i came out behind him and laid him on the beach. he was blue. lifeguards and the paramedics frantically try to revive ray but he s flat lining. no pulse. ray was so close to death, he was knocking on the door. he was right there. ray swallowed more than a gallon of salt water. he s rushed to the hospital. clinging to life, he s in a coma for two days. and on the third day, against all odds, ray wakes up. i think i was probably as close to death as somebody can come. the doctors at the hospital all told me, i was the worst drowning victim they have seen that lived to talk about it. it was the worst day of my life. his injuries are severe. i hit so hard, i had two