Surfer rides ‘biggest wave of all time’ after saving friend

Brazilian wild man Carlos Burle has just ridden what many are saying is the biggest wave of all time.

And he did it straight after saving the life of fellow Brazilian and friend, Maya Gabeira from the extreme surf conditions.

The pair were surfing Portugal’s renowned big- wave spot, Nazaré, when Maya took a huge fall and broke her ankle.

She disappeared for five minutes, before Burle located her, floating face down, and swam her into shore. She was revived on the beach and is recovering in hospital.

Burle, however, was not going to let the swell pass so despite the scare, he grabbed his board, went back out and was towed into just one wave, the final one anyone rode that day.

That wave is likely to change Burle’s life.

Last year, fellow big-wave surfer Garrett McNamara caught a wave at the same spot. It was regarded as the biggest wave ever towed into.

Burle’s was bigger, with onlookers saying it was 100ft high.

Although ecstatic to have caught the wave, Burle was more concerned with the condition of his friend, Gabeira.

“I’m good. Maya is good too. That’s the most important thing. It was a crazy day. I nearly lost my friend, Maya. It was terrible. I don’t think I’ve been so scared in my whole life. She has a broken ankle but she’s alive.

“Man, she was gone for about five minutes. I couldn’t find her anywhere. I was so scared. I didn’t want to lose my friend, you know? Then I saw her and raced towards her. There were these huge waves just breaking on us and over us, and she missed the sled.

“I lost her, man. I couldn’t find her. It was the worst situation I have ever been in… Then I saw her again but this time she was floating face down. She was heading for the rocks. It was terrible. The worst situation I have ever faced. I raced up to her, jumped off the ski and grabbed her. I couldn’t let her go.

“The waves were so big and it was a shorebreak. We got slammed. So scary. We got lucky. I got lucky. We got to the beach. I don’t know how, but we made it to the beach.

“They started administering CPR immediately, and she coughed up a bucket load of water and she started breathing.”

Of the wave, Burle knew it was big as soon as he was towed into it.

“It went on forever. I didn’t just race for the shoulder you know, I wanted to surf the wave properly,” he said.

Was it 100 foot high though?

“I don’t know — it’s not impossible,” he said.

“There was a lot of space on that wave. I don’t know how big it was. It was bigger than Garrett’s wave last year; that we can see clearly. Whatever the case or the size, I am just very lucky, I’m happy to have been in the spot at the time. We have Garrett to thank. He introduced the big-wave world to Nazaré. He’s happy to share his knowledge as well, which is great. Garrett’s the man.”