CULBURRA Beach’s Owen Wright has successfully made his return to Pipeline, just two years after the break caused him to have a serious brain injury.
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At the 2015 event, he took a serious blow to the head, which caused significant brain trauma and led to a yearlong recovery.
Physicians told Wright there was a chance he might not ever surf again.
Undaunted, the South Coast product pushed forward, determined to get his life back.
His recovery was slow and tedious, with a number of setbacks along the way.
Yet, after 15 months away from pro surfing, Wright was back competing on the World Surf League Championship Tour, incredibly winning the opening event of the 2017 season at Snapper Rocks.
In front of his family, friends and thousands of his cheering countrymen, Wright was back on top.
But the 27-year-old couldn’t continue his strong form, losing in his round one heat two showdown, at the Billabong Pipeline Masters at Banzai Pipeline, Oahu, Hawaii.
Wright could only manage a combined score of 3.37 (1.00 and 2.37), losing to countryman Josh Kerr (12.17) and United States’ Kanoa Igarashi (6.10).
The brother of two-time world champion Tyler Wright will now take on Australian young gun Ethan Ewing in round two heat two.