Big wave surfer Alex Botelho is currently "stable and conscious" in hospital after he suffered a wipeout during a competition at Nazare, Portugal on Tuesday.
Alex Botelho, a surfer from Portugal, as being towed back out by jet-ski driver Hugo Vau when they were tossed into the air by a between two huge waves. The incident happened during a World Surf League (WSL) competition at the notorious Atlantic coast spot.
Both Botelho and Vau were swallowed by a wall of breaking whitewater and tossed violently towards the shore. When rescuers recovered Botelho, he appeared unconscious and was floating face down in the sea.
A statement by the WSL, which runs the professional surfing circuit and is the organizer of the Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge, said: "Currently, he is stable and conscious. He will stay at the hospital for further evaluation."
An update on Botelho's condition on Wednesday stated: "Alex remains stable. He is currently in the hospital under close observation for the next 48/72 hours."
Big wave surfers look to Nazare as a hunting ground for large waves. Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa broke the world record for the biggest wave surfed in 2017, after riding a wave 80 feet tall at Nazare.
The previous record was 23.77 meters, which was surfed by Hawaiian Garrett McNamara in 2011 at Nazare also.
Botelho's accident has reignited calls for WSL to remove big wave locations such as Nazare from its competitions. Carve Surfing Magazine tweeted: "we have to ask when is enough enough and we have to watch someone die live on TV before [World Surfing League] draws a few lines in the sand."
On Instagram, surfer Nic von Rupp wrote: "Today I was confronted with the reality of our sport, heartbreaking watching my brother [Alex Botelho] between life and death right in front of the eyes of the world."
"Honestly, very few would have survived, just a beast of a human like Alex to pull thru.. not only because the strong human he is, but mostly for the love many people have for him praying to pull thru," he added.
