Life doesn’t stop for anyone.
With or without injury.
Watching the Sandshoes team play touch football. Dylan, Wade Core, cousin Danny and me a (far right), with Robbie Carr looking over us. I like this photo as I’m the only one standing.
Me and Dylan post-surf at Surfers Road, Wamberal, on the Central Coast in New South Wales. A usual hangout each school holidays.
Another post-surf shot (Dad loved them – we didn’t). I always liked stickers, but this board had heaps to cover all the dings it got from flying off the car roof.
Waxing our boards at Snapper Rocks, with Dylan and cousin Danny.
I always hated having my photo taken. Here you can see I’m trying to dodge Dad.
Me and Bowie heading downstairs. Kirsty named her Bowie 747 because she would always have her arms out when she was carried. Steve Conti
Helping Bowie along while she was learning to walk. One of my most precious photos.
Hanging out with Bowie.
Heading out to Razors, one of my favourite waves close to home. Steve Conti
Coming in from a surf at home shortly before the trip. Steve Conti
Dylan and me heading off the beach where we spent so much time growing up. Steve Conti
One of my favourite surfing photos. At my favourite beach, doing my favourite turn on a perfect day. I remember so much from this session. Steve Conti
Another favourite spot at home: somewhere I surfed alone many times. Steve Conti
Looking out over the line-up, and my home town in the distance, before jumping off. Steve Conti
Throwing out one last turn on the end section at Razors. Steve Conti
This would end up being the last wave I caught at the beach where I grew up. Steve Conti
Here I’m in transition from turn to turn in the pocket. I love how flat my board is. Paul Peterson
An up-and-over blast at home. Steve Conti
Dylan during the Code Red swell in Tahiti. Crazy man! Steve Robertson
Dylan at Shipstern Bluff in Tasmania. At the time this wave was a standout, and won Barrel of the Year at the annual global Billabong XXL Big Wave awards. The wave actually seems pretty tame by today’s standards. Billabong/Tim Jones
Dylan working on his boards in the factory. Steve Conti
The good boat Barrenjoey. Home on the ocean for ten days.
Getting our boards prepared for the next morning with Crusty and Azza.
Downtime on the Barrenjoey with Zombie, Crusty and Prezzo. Food, beers and stories.
Looking out to one of the many waves nearby.
This photo was taken the afternoon before the accident at Thunders. The last shot of me surfing.
Heading towards the shanties at Sikakap.
Being loaded into the tiny helicopter. Big Nathe is in the driver’s seat, with Crusty behind and Goody beside me.
Lift-off. Finally getting away, leaving all my mates behind.
In hospital, all wrapped up and staying warm, with Aimee by my side.
Adam Sharp at Rip Curl sent me this email while I was recuperating: ‘Everyone at Rip Curl (and I mean the whole company) sends their best wishes and thoughts. We know you guys are tough; you’re going to power through it. You have an amazing network of friends and people caring for you – this group is way bigger than you can ever imagine, and it’s this love and support that will get you through … Mick [Fanning, pictured here] is cheering for you as well.’
(Above and below) In hospital, mucking around and hanging out with Bowie.
Dylan and me on the couch. I’m playing around with my fingers.
At a benefit surf comp put on by Sean McGoogan, another quadriplegic, who jumped in to help. I’m here with tour surfer Ace Buchan (left); my old boss at Billabong, Bruce Turner; and my good mate Steve Conti (right).
With family on the same night: Dylan, Skye, me and Troy.
Bowie and me trying our hardest not to get blown off the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fran.
On top of the Rockefeller Center looking out over the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center in NYC, with my niece Sienna and Bowie.
Meeting Arsenal FC legend Charlie George on a visit to London, something I thought may never happen.
Bowie on a board. About as close as we ever got to actual waves.
Cuddle time. Sadly Bowie is too big now to roll around on me.
Bowie helping me celebrate my birthday at home.
Acknowledgements
Daz Longbottom
I need to acknowledge many people for the writing of this book; without them, this story wouldn’t have made it to paper.
First of all, I’d like to thank my parents – Dad with Annie, and Mum with Tim – for all their encouragement through this process and for continuing to stand by me even in my stubborn ways. Thank you also to Dylan for his efforts to help me, whenever I needed, and no matter where he was in the world at the time.
A special thanks to Sparks for lending his voice in the story, on top of everything he has done and continues to do for me.
Thank you to Aimee for trusting me to voice my story.
I’m grateful now to Granny Annie and Miss Pat for pushing me to get the story down, and approaching Tim Rushby-Smith to help in writing it. Without Tim, I don’t think Beyond the Break would have ever become a reality. Thank you so much for putting your hand up and guiding me through a world I was not familiar with.
Thank you to Nick Carroll for the foreword. I have always looked up to Nick’s surf journalism throughout my life. He stands at the apex of insightful and thought-provoking writers; for him to have contributed to the book feels like the cherry on top.
Thank you to my great friends Ven, Mitsy and Jules for allowing me to continually bend their ears, for putting up with my moods and helping me regardless of what is involved. To Garth, Nickos and Gab for the soundboards and my tea.
Lastly, I’d like to send a big thank you to all my family and friends who helped and stood by me while I was on this journey. No matter how big or how small, no matter how close you are, or whether you’re one of the strangers who just wanted to say hello or have a chat, you have all had an impact on me, and I thank you greatly. Love you all.
Tim Rushby-Smith
Firstly, thank you to Patricia Freeman and Anne O’Sullivan for hatching the plan and making such a great pitch to get me on board.
Thanks to Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown and to Alison Urquhart at Penguin Random House for seeing so clearly what we wanted to do, and to Brandon VanOver for making the edit such a pleasure by expertly shaping with a light touch.
I’d also like to thank Penny, Rosalie and Felix, my reasons for being, and my mother Uli, and Eugene for filling my young head with the love of words and books.
Finally, thank you to Daz for trusting me and for giving me the opportunity to help with the telling of such an astonishing tale.
About the Authors
Daz Longbottom was destined to surf. Born into a surfing family, living on the beach in Cronulla and with a surfboard manufacturing pioneer for a father, it didn’t take Daz long to discover that surfing feeling. Following early successes in competitive surfing, Daz moved into the surf industry and eventually became the owner of a surf shop. He became a father and ran a successful business, which made life feel easy as he negotiated a path of pure happiness. Then, in a split second, everything changed. While surfing a remote and idyllic location in Indonesia, fourteen hours by boat from the mainland, a freak accident resulted in a broken neck and instant paralysis. Alone in the water, Daz fought to stay alive until he was rescued by his friends. But that’s just the beginning. Reaching the safety of a hospital would become an epic, life-or-death ride no-one could have foreseen.
British author and journalist Tim Rushby-Smith was a lover of the great outdoors: a passionate mountain-biker, hiker and climber, and enthusiastic in the waves. In 2005, Tim fell from a tree while working as a tree surgeon and suffered a spinal cord injury that result
ed in instant paraplegia. His experience of injury and the return to normal life led him to write a memoir reflecting on his experience. Tim went on to write features for numerous newspapers and magazines around the world, as well as writing for the BBC. He served a six-month stint as a columnist for The Times in London, writing about life as a wheelchair dad.
Every effort has been made to identify individual photographers and copyright holders where appropriate, but for some photographs this has not been possible. The publishers would be pleased to hear from any copyright holders who have not been acknowledged.
An Ebury Press book
Published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
penguin.com.au
First published by Ebury Press in 2018
Copyright © Darren Longbottom and Tim Rushby-Smith 2018
Foreword copyright © Nick Carroll 2018
The moral right of the authors has been asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Penguin Random House Australia.
Addresses for the Penguin Random House group of companies can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com/offices.
ISBN 9780143787631
Cover photograph © Steve Conti
Cover design by Alex Ross © Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Internal design by Midland Typesetters, Australia
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