Andrew Cotton described the incident as the "worst wipeout" of his life
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A British surfer has broken his back after being wiped out by a 60-foot wave in Nazare, Portugal.
Andrew Cotton, 36, said he suffered the “worst wipeout” of his life when the enormous wave threw him off his board and slammed him into the water at high speed.
Footage of the incident, viewed thousands of times online, shows the wave building and crashing down on top of the surfer.
Cotton shared the video on his social media pages, as he thanked the lifeguards and crew who helped get him safely to a local hospital.
“I had a ‘significant’ wipeout today at Nazare. Split second decisions are neither right or wrong, but they can have consequences,” he wrote on Facebook.
The waves near the fishing village of Nazare, where Cotton was surfing, are famed for being some of the biggest in the world.
But despite his accident this week, Cotton said he is already eager to return to the waves.
“I have broken my back but I’ve been really lucky, I’m already looking forward and focusing my energy to get fit and back out there on some more big rollers,” he said.