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Keala Kennelly Wipeout Pics, Video: Gruesome Surfing Injury

by NowPublic Staff | September 15, 2011 at 11:18 am

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Keala Kennelly Wipeout: Had Coral Removed from Her Skull

Hawaii-born pro surfer Keala Kennelly had a brutal wipeout while tow-in surfing at Teahupo'o, Tahiti earlier this month. Kennelly hit a coral reef face-first, and underwent surgery to have bits of coral removed from her skull. The Keala Kennelly wipeout video has hit the web, and she posted some gruesome injury photos to her Facebook page.

Keala Kennelly Tahiti Wipeout Video (Doesn't Look That Bad, But...)
Keala Kennelly Injury Pics (Not for the Faint of Heart)

In an interview with Surfline, Kennelly describes the aftermath of what was the worst wipeout of her life:

When I arrived at the main hospital in Papeete they first did a CT Scan because they were very worried I had broken my skull, cheek bone or injured my neck. We were all very relieved when the CT scan came out all good. From there I went into surgery where they removed the reef from inside my face and stitched up the huge gash by my eye, cuts in my head, chin and jaw. I counted 51 external stitches and there are a lot of internal stitches that will be absorbed by my body.

She then dedicated a Facebook photo album to the now-infamous Teahupoo Wipeout.

Keala Kennelly has appeared in several surf-related films and TV shows, most notably as Kai in John from Cincinnati and the documentary Step into Liquid.

Kennelly describes the wipeout as a freak accident, and will be back in the water soon.