BIG SUR, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California surfer who holds the Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever paddled into broke his neck in four places during a surfing accident.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that Shawn Dollar also incurred head trauma and a concussion when he hit a rock in Big Sur on Monday.
He is in stable condition and said in a news release he expects to make a full recovery.
Dollar first appeared on the big wave surfing radar during the 2010 Maverick's surf contest along the coast south of San Francisco.
He wasn't invited to compete, but surfed a 55-foot wave during a session before the final, which set the Guinness record.
In 2012, he topped his own mark, setting the current Guinness world paddle record when he surfed a 61-foot wave off of Baja California.
