Surfing Legend Laird Hamilton Almost Drowned…Not in the Ocean (Video)

Laird Hamilton is a man of legend and lore.

Despite some light mockery in the modern era, his impact on surfing is palpable. He pioneered tow surfing; he stunt-doubled for James Bond; he rode a wave over 20 years ago at Teahupo'o, which is still considered a benchmark for slab progression today.

He is a legend, a trailblazer, and perhaps one of surfing’s greatest innovators.

So much so that, speak to any surfer, and they’ll know Laird by first-name only. Yeah, he’s in that club with Prince, Madonna, Bono, Beyonce, etc.

And Laird recently sat down with The Shawn Ryan Show to talk about a host of things – his troubled childhood, his innovation in big waves, his near-death experiences…

Speaking of the latter, Laird surprisingly took a left turn. The near-death experience he chose to talk about wasn’t from surfing big waves; it wasn’t even in the ocean, in fact.

Laird explained:

“I was in Oregon. There was this river rafting trip. And they stopped before this giant waterfall. They pulled the raft in, and they made us walk around.

“I said to the guy, ‘can’t we go off that thing?’ He said, ‘we don’t go off that thing.’ But he also said, ‘I can’t stop you if you wanna go off it.’

“So, I swam out into the river. And I swam right into the heart of it. As I was going off, I was going headfirst. I heard the guy yell, ‘feet first!’ from the shore. So, I kinda rolled over.

“I went over the waterfall, and I landed on a big stone. The waterfall was holding me down. I couldn’t move. I got a vision of a skeleton with a life preserver on it.”

Suffice to say, Laird made it out alive.

But crazy to think that this guy – who has been in so many dicey situations in the ocean – nearly died diving off a waterfall in a river in Oregon. Laird’s gonna Laird.

Listen to the full episode below:

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