Legendary Bluff charger, Rudy Palmboom Snr, had a close call yesterday after a long hold-down caused him to blackout while surfing in front of his home at Ansteys Beach. Thankfully he wasn’t surfing alone and was pulled from the water and rushed to hospital, where he is expected to make a full recovery.
Rudy rules the Rock!
The powerful five foot spring low tide waves were playful by Rudy’s standards, but as we are all aware, accidents can happen in any size waves. According to witnesses, Rudy went over the falls but never surfaced after the wipeout. Fortunately the wipeout was witnessed by nearby surfers, Raine Tarby and Steve Jones, who reacted quickly and paddled into the impact zone, found Rudy, and paddled him to shore. There they were assisted by lifeguards, who were able to resuscitate Rudy before rushing him to hospital.
“Rudy is ok,” his wife, Tash, told Zag yesterday evening. “He is conscious, but still a bit disoriented and in hospital under observation. He gave us all a mighty scare this morning, but he is fine now – he even asked for beer in his drip!”
Rudy Palmboom, as photographed for our article ‘What Do You Fear?’ in issue 37.7
The accident and Raine and Steve’s heroic actions serve as a reminder that we should always be on the lookout for each other in the lineup. Had it not been for their swift rescue, Rudy’s wife Tash and his kids, Heidi and Rudy Jnr, would no longer have their loving father with them.
Zag looks forward to seeing the legend back in the water soon.
Stoked you are okay, Rudy. Wouldn’t be the same surfing the Bluff without you.
What a lovely person and icon – stoked you are ok Rudy – get well –
scared us there Ballie !!