Teenage surfing champion battles back from £50k surgeries after attack
Tiree teen feared for future after assault by a fellow surfer
When Tiree teen Ben Larg was signed up by the Red Bull surf team at the home of the world’s biggest waves in Portugal, the 18-year-old thought his dream had come true.
But the Scottish champion’s ambitions came crashing down like surf on the rocks after an altercation with a Portuguese surfer left him facing £50,000 worth of surgeries.
Now he is back in the water and preparing to ride the biggest waves of his young life in the Atlantic as Big Wave Season breaks on the Portuguese fishing town of Nazare.
Ben was just weeks into his training schedule with the Red Bull team, being mentored by world-renowned surfer Andrew Cotton, when he was attacked by a fellow surfer in the water. The incident left Ben, who was 17 at the time, with a burst eardrum – a serious injury for any surfer.
In the 18 months since, the Hebridean, who was Scotland’s under-18 surf champ by the age of 12, has undergone two surgeries costing tens of thousands of pounds. He has now taken his first steps back into the water on the coast where 80ft breakers draw surfers from around the world.
“It was an unfortunate situation,” said Ben, who invited the Sunday Post to join him at his European training HQ. “A guy punched me on the ear. He was a local bodyboarder. I’d paddled out to a beach break and this guy told me to get out of the water. I told him he could surf the waves he wanted and I’d catch the ones he didn’t, there were plenty of waves going around.
“His mates were all shouting at me too. I was telling them to chill out, telling them I was only 17. It started to get a bit out of hand then. The guy slapped me once and when I turned around he punched me on the ear. I hadn’t long been signed by Red Bull and it all came to a grinding halt.”
Ben and his team opted not to press charges, letting word of mouth among the surf community do its work. “I know the biggest surfers in Portugal, and there were a lot of phone calls made to the guy, let’s put it that way,” said the islander. “I didn’t go to the police because I figured I didn’t want to ruin someone’s life.”
Ben now surfs with a bespoke ear plug and, although the injury wasn’t caused by the waves he chases, he accepts they are part of the reality of taking part in such a dangerous sport.
Sitting on the cliffs at the town’s Forte de São Miguel Arcanjo, overlooking the waves, he said: “This has been the worst injury I’ve ever had.
“I broke my foot before and it wasn’t as bad as this. I’ve had two surgeries and we don’t know for sure if I’ll need a third one. It’s cost me and Red Bull £50,000 so far.
“It can affect my balance and, even with the plug, water might still get in. It was my first year with the team and I was worried they might leave me, but they’ve supported me which I’m really grateful for. I’m not back to my best surfing yet, but I feel I’m getting back to that standard.”
Ben first surfed at the end of his dad Marty’s board when he was a toddler and grew up on the waters off Tiree, where his dad, a joiner and surfer, runs a surf school. He was the subject of an acclaimed documentary, Ride The Wave, that showed him, aged 14, become the youngest surfer to conquer the giant waves at Mullaghmore off Ireland’s west coast.
Ben has spoken in the past about the difficulties growing up on Tiree where bullying led to him being home-schooled by his parents. He said: “I had a rough time and there aren’t too many mates at home in Tiree. But I’ve loads of good mates through surfing now.”
And, despite his setbacks, his ambitions have not been dimmed.
“I’ve a few goals,” he said. “The big waves at Nazare were only discovered by the surf community relatively recently, so I want to find more. I especially want to explore more big wave potential at home.”
He added: “I think there could be 40ft waves in some parts of Scotland, especially in places like Orkney.
“But my immediate ambition is to get back to riding big waves at Nazare. And to try to become the best big wave surfer in the world.”