“Makai Is Back”: Surfer Recovers from Near-Death at Pipeline

“As most of you know, four days ago, Makai has a very severe wipeout at Pipeline,” a grateful, nearly teary-eyed Liam begins the video update. “And, thanks to the lifeguards and Eli [Olson] and his brother Landon [McNamara] and everyone involved, I’m here to tell you that Makai is back. He’s talking, 100% coherent, he’s gonna be pissed when he sees this video. All your prayers, all your thoughts, all the energy helped. I wanna thank you guys very much.”

Previously reported, as mentioned from Liam, North Shore standout Eli Olson was one of the first on the scene to save Makai’s life after the unfortunate wipeout, in which he hit his head on the reef.

Eli explained what went down: “He was underwater for close to two minutes before I got to him. First thing, I just wanted to get his head above water. I gave him a couple breaths, tried to give him a couple compressions. We were getting hit by waves out here. It was a lot bigger yesterday than it is today. It took a few minutes, because we were getting recycled in the waves. Then we got him in. Lifeguards did another round of CPR compressions, and he started coughing up water.”

But now, thankfully, it looks like Makai is going to make a full recovery. Liam added:

“He’s doing amazing.”

Amazing news. More thoughts, prayers, and positivity to the McNamara Ohana.