Yesterday’s BIG news was that one of our favourite BIG wave surfers, Maya Gabeira, from Brazil, above giving the thumbs up from hospital having been pulled from the water unconscious after getting battered by the gnarliest whitewater in monster swell at Nazare, Portugal. Word is she was rescued by her buddy and fellow big wave charger Carlos Burle, which reminded us of an interview we did with her a couple of years back when we chatted about their bond.

I asked:

Your tow-in partner Carlos Burle had been quite a mentor for you?

And Maya replied:

Yes totally. We first met at Red Bull HQ in Brazil. He was already sponsored by them and I was at my first meeting. They told him to keep an eye on me and then we met again in Hawaii and surfed Sunset when it was really big together. He saw me taking pretty big waves on my head and break my board and he said that after that moment he was keen to work with me.

Not a regular My Hero feature but then not a regular week for Maya Gabeira so we reckon it’s all good.

Stab Magazine scored an interview with Carlos after the event in which he describes the terror of watching her wipe out and get sucked under the raging whitewater. He said:

I lost her man. I couldn’t find her. It was the worst situation I have ever been in.

He goes on to describe how he saved her from hitting the rocks:

I grabbed her in this position I learned from the lifeguards in Hawaii. Got her from behind and put her in an armlock, keeping her head out of the water. We went through the Nazare shorebreak like that.

Amazing stuff. This video shows Carlos Burle dragging her from the water:

And this INSANE video shows Carlos Burle then Maya Gabeira and others including Garret McNamara surfing some of the ridiculous swell that’s been hitting Portugal this past week. Music is so fitting too. The dudes surfing this are amazing. And it’s beautifully shot though imagine watching this shit live too. Wow.