Holiday beach warning as surf injuries set to spike over summer
Medical experts and lifesavers caution that surf‑related spinal injuries could rise sharply on the Sunshine Coast this holiday season.
Thousands of visitors and locals are expected to flock to Sunshine Coast beaches, including Noosa Main Beach, over the summer holidays.
Medical experts warn that surf‑related spinal injuries could surge this season. The director of trauma services at Sunshine Coast University Hospital, Andrew Hobbins King, says the health service regularly sees a rise in younger patients with surf‑related injuries during holiday periods.
Injuries range from head knocks, concussions and broken limbs to devastating spinal fractures, spinal cord injuries and, in some cases, death. King notes that patients can go from “the greatest day of their life on the beach” to facing a life‑altering injury in seconds.
Surf lifesavers add that conditions such as shallow water, outgoing tides and dumping waves at popular Sunshine Coast beaches can increase the risk of spinal injuries. They urge beachgoers to swim between the red and yellow flags, check conditions and follow lifesavers' advice.
While about 14 percent of all spinal cord injuries seen at SCUH were linked to the beach, that proportion rises to one‑third of spinal injuries during December and January. King says official statistics likely under‑count the problem because patients who break their backs without other significant injuries may not meet the formal definition of major trauma.
Men are statistically at greater risk of surf‑related spinal injuries due to increased risk‑taking behaviour, King adds.
One survivor, Andrew Pink, recounted being paralysed after hitting his head on the ocean floor when he came off a wave. Doctors told him he would never walk or surf again, yet nine months later he proved them wrong.
“These injuries are catastrophic with a lifelong disability, and if we can just prevent one of these from happening, then that’s good for us and the consumers,” Pink said.
Beachgoers are being warned to take extra care this summer, as medical experts and lifesavers fear surf‑related spinal injuries could surge across the Sunshine Coast.
