BEDE CONQUERS WIPEOUT
BEDE Durbidge couldn’t walk, let alone swim, last year when he set himself his toughest-ever test – a return to professional competition on the WSL Tour within 12 months.
After a near-fatal wipeout at the Pipeline Masters in Hawaii in December 2015, doctors feared the Gold Coast surfer might never get back on his board. But Durbidge had other ideas.
“My mum was like ‘oh – so are you going to retire now’,” he said.
“I was like “no, I want to get back and compete’.
“I was pretty determined to do whatever it took and not give up until I made it.
“Surfing is my life. Without it I would be lost.”
The wipe-out saw Durbidge fracture, split open and twist his pelvis.
“I thought I was going to be a paraplegic,” he said.
Durbidge’s triumphant recovery and return to the world tour screened last night on Channel 9’s new reality TV ratings hit This Time Next Year (TTNY).
Durbidge said allowing the show to follow his journey helped him set – and achieve – a goal many believed impossible.
“I didn’t have an exact goal and then that (the show) cemented it,” he said.
“I was thinking at the time when I made my pledge, maybe I might be trying to get back a bit early.”