Surfer undergoes facelift after being wiped out by wave in Cornwall

A surfer has undergone a facelift after suffering horrific injuries when he was wiped out by a 3ft wave.

Steve Bowens, 43, was hit between the eyes by his stand-up paddle board as he landed “in the wrong place at the wrong time” while surfing in Portreath, Cornwall.

The sports scientist had to undergo major reconstruction surgery to his face, with surgeons working on him for nine hours.

Doctors cut him from ear to ear and patched his face with muscle, while also rebuilding his cheek.

Speaking about the accident, Mr Bowens said he “misjudged” the wave and fell, causing the board to hit him “square in the face”.

“The sensation was as if someone hit me with a baseball bat. It was violent and as I came to the surface I knew that I was likely to pass out,” he said.

The surfer added it would have been “very bad indeed” if he passed out, as he was not sure if anyone else had seen the accident.

He said: “As soon as I surfaced I climbed back on, thinking that at least if I passed out I would have some chance of keeping my airway out of the water until the next wave.

“Looking down at the board it was like someone was pouring red paint from a bucket onto the deck.

“I had never seen so much blood before. I then started shouting, I didn’t care who saw me, only that someone would see where I was and that I needed help.”

Mr Bowens managed to surf back to the shore where his wife Sally – a doctor – was called to take him to A&E.

As he waited to be taken to hospital, the 43-year-old said the “shock of the accident started to set in” and the pain was “fairly intense”.

He later found out he had broken his right cheek, nose and both eye sockets and he had a deep cut to his forehead, nose and cheek.

Mr Bowens added that “everything had been pushed in a bit”.

The surfer, who is a member of Portreath Surf Lifesaving Club, said he wants others to brush up their knowledge on what to do in a similar situation.

He said: “There were lots of other surfers around, and some of them clearly wanted to help but seemed to lack the specific skills or confidence to know how best to do this.”

Mr Bowens is in discussions to set up a project which will provide basic training for “surfers to help surfers”.

(c) Sky News 2019: Surfer undergoes facelift after being wiped out by wave in Cornwall