Frank Solomon broken in Ireland

With the Winter swell jacking into full-throttle over in the Northern Hemisphere, many of our Saffa chargers have temporarily migrated to test their mettle on some of the world’s heaviest breaks. Unfortunately, as a result, the waves aren’t the only things that end up breaking. Frank Solomon fell victim to this after charging in Ireland yesterday. Dan Redman gave us the exclusive lowdown.

Frank, man-down in Ireland after the heavy wipe-out.

Frank, not shy for a left slab, was frothing out to hit one of Ireland’s better and heavier slabs yesterday named Rileys, which is situated under some massive Irish cliffs. In typical Frank style, he went big but came off second best and ‘hurt’ his back after a wipe-out. Feeling uncomfortable, he went in, climbing up the cliffs to the nearest hospital to have it checked out. The doc’s checked out his back and informed him that he had in fact broken his L2 vertebra and had been walking around with a broken back. They also let him know that he will be out of action for the next six to eight weeks.

A view from the top of Riley’s, not an easy spot to get out of with a good back.

It’s a big blow to Frank’s Northern Hemisphere winter season. Frank still had two weeks left in Ireland before heading over to the States and Hawaii and had only planned to head back home in March. But Frank said he is in high spirits and is still frothing. He also added that he had nearly hooked up with the nurse.

Frank had this to say: “I’m okay, it’s just very painful right now. Riley’s is so sick and I was frothing a bit too hard, going on some silly ones. I pulled into one and got sucked over the falls, landing almost seated. The wave is near the cliffs of Moher, and about a 20 minute hike to get to. I wasn’t sure how else to get out of there so I hiked. And then drove two hours to the hospital.”

Frank posted this a few days ago saying “awesome weekend of exploration.”

Frank looks like he’s ready to pull a Forest Gump on us.

Frank taking it on the chin, doing the head work for the seasons to come.