Donate here in lieu of WSL responsibility.
The World Surf League sure is in a heap of mess right now. What with champion Joel Tudor demanding responsibility for rumored decimation of the longboard world tour, jettisoning of the once ballyhooed WSL Studios and… general incompetence, I supposed, it finds itself adrift like an unmanned, badly burned cargo ship filled with luxury cars.
Well, to add injury to insult*, Sally Cohen, a professional longboarder on the rumored decimated longboard world tour, was gravely injured last year at Surf Ranch whilst practicing for the event there and has turned to the public in order to help pay catastrophic bills.
I lost 4 of my front teeth, received more than 30 stitches on my chin, and a fracture to the jaw. Although I was rushed to the hospital, the hospital was at full capacity so I received all of my medical attention in the hallway and unfortunately due to the poor medical attention, things didn’t heal as hoped (frown face)
Hi. My name is Sally Cohen. I am a professional surfer currently on the WSL world longboard tour. Last year I was practicing for an event at the Surf Ranch, where I suffered a terrible accident; a surfboard to the face. This surfboard hit my chin, resulting to: two huge lacerations, 30+ stitches, 4 lost front teeth, and a fracture to the jaw. I received all of my medical attention in the hallways, due to the hospital being at full capacity. I had no call buttons, barely any help/attention, and I felt completely helpless for hours at a time. They didn’t have any space for me.
But hours later, they gave me stitches on my face and a temporary splint to hold my teeth together, since they didn’t have an oral surgeon at that location.
A few days later, I found an oral surgeon that took me in as an emergency case, where I received a CT scan and was informed that I had to remove all four of my front bottom teeth.
What was meant to be a four day trip, ended up being quite an expensive month-long trip.
RECENT UPDATE:
[6 months since my injury] I recently found an oral surgeon in Hawaii that took a CT scan of my mouth and informed me with both some good and bad news.
Good News: My gums are finally healed and ready for dental implants.
Bad News: My insurance refused to cover any of the expenses regarding this accident, since they considered all of the procedures “cosmetic”…
As many of you may know, it really hasn’t been the easiest year for me with back to back injuries. Currently I am out of the water, healing from a second surgery on my foot. This was related to an unexpected freak accident… The wood on the balcony of a friend’s porch was rotten and I fell through it and landed on the concrete from 2 floors up…
I’m not one to normally ask for help or for donations, but after paying off all of my previous medical bills and receiving another pile of bills to pay off, I realized I can’t do this alone.
No amount is too small, anything truly helps. I appreciate all of the love and support from all of you and can’t wait to get back in the water with high hopes to be 100% myself again.
… Even though, as of now, it seems like that’ll be in a few years… I can’t wait!!
Wait. How is the World Surf League not paying for an injury sustained by one of its athletes at one of its pools ahead of one of its events?
Hmmmm.
Donate here in lieu of WSL responsibility.
*Injury to insult, in this context, is good no?
