On Monday parts of Europe were battered by a hurricane-force storm dubbed St Jude, after the patron saint of lost causes, and most people ducked for cover. Not everyone. Some surfers decided to hit the waves during the storm and rode what might have been some of the largest waves ever.
Despite the storm raging about, some adventurous surfers took to the waves at Praia do Norte, Portugal, The Independent reports. Surfers like Brazilians Carlos Burle and Maya Gabeira and English Andrew Cotton decided to live dangerously.
The area near the fishing village of Nazare has always been a favorite spot due to large waves, but some think that Burle might have surfed the biggest ever wave. It wasn't all fun and games as Gabeira nearly drowned and had to be dragged to the beach and resuscitated. The surfer was taken to the hospital with a broken ankle.
According to Mediaite, Burle successfully managed to ride a wave that is being estimated at a 100 feet. If that is truly how tall the wave was, then Burle would have set a new record, and broken the old one set by Garrett MacNamara only in January.
"It was luck," the surfer said. "We never know when we will be catching the wave. I still hadn't surfed any wave and everyone had already had their rides. Maya almost died. For me, it was a big adrenaline moment to get back there after what happened."
image: Wikimedia Commons
