If you’ve ever had to call an ambulance for your friend you’ll be familiar with the horrible rush of confusion and fear which runs through your mind as you dial 0-0-0.
Corey showed me photos on his phone of this drain spot, describing the sketchy run up and landing while assuring me it was totally feasible. I remember thinking it looked so unique and would make for a great picture. Almost too good to be true.
We got there and like a lot of picturesque skate spots this definitely was not the same little rail and bank spot from the iPhone photo. The run up was narrow, sloped and the teak-off angle was more than unfavourable. As for the landing, water and slime followed by a solid wall of earth and stone. I honestly would’ve been fine if he threw in the towel and said the spot actually stinks. Not Corey, he loves a sketchy challenge and after a few run ups proclaimed that all he had to do was “A really quick carve just before I pop my ollie, then I’ll roll down and do a slight manual through the water and then power-slide to stop myself at the wall.” At the time I thought this sounded ridiculous but the ‘really quick carve’ was actually working for him.
He would pop and then kick out, grab his board and run down the bank. Time after time he would scurry down the bank chasing his board in a losing battle to stop it going into the water. Which it did about 15 times, but Corey was prepared for this and produced a small blowtorch from his backpack. I’d never seen this done before or even thought about it but it actually makes a lot of sense. You can almost dry anything with a bit of fire, just make sure you don’t point the flame in the same spot for too long at a time.
Attempt after attempt he would pop and run down the bank, almost tripping over himself just to save his board and have it run through the water anyway. He’d blow torch it dry, do a few ollies on flat and then get straight back at it. “Give it to me!!! Just fuckin’ let me do the bloody ollie!!” He’d repeat time and time again. The determination would always outweigh the frustration. Dry up the grip, spin the wheels and hike back to the top of the bank.
“He rebounded off the wall, like a rag doll that had been hit by a Mack truck.”
At last he pops a perfect Ollie. His feet don’t land on the board properly so he chases it down the bank stopping it with his foot just before it hits the water. “I’ve figured it out! Right here boys!” Again almost identical to the previous attempt he clears the rail and lands perfectly, rolling down the entire bank for the first and only time. After all these attempts at the ollie he hadn’t once attempted going through the water and as soon as his wheels make contact with it he’s stopped in his tracks and propelled forwards head first into the wall. He rebounded off the wall, like a rag doll that had been hit by a Mack truck. Neihana (who was filming) and myself froze momentarily, waiting for him to move, but he didn’t. We ran over to him held his head and tried to make sure he was still breathing. I recall the horrible sound of him heaving, as if his body was in autopilot gasping for air. Other than concern for his head, I was sure he’d shattered his shoulder or his collarbone or any number of things. I dialed 000 pleading for an ambulance, as we had no idea what the extent of his injuries were. It was only by the time the emergency services located us on the map that Corey had finally begun responding to us with his doped out face, covered in blood with a total guise of confusion. “What happened?… Where am I?… What was I trying?” He had lost a big chunk of memory, not knowing what had happened or even what day it was. He kept trying to stand and walk around but the ambos insisted we kept him sitting and by any means necessary keep him awake.
The ambulance arrived within ten minutes and he was rushed to the nearest hospital. The doctor requested to watch over the footage, which assisted in making sure he didn’t suffer any serious neck injuries. Corey quickly became the center of attention in the E.R. with all the nurses crowding around the camera extremely excited; as they normally only get to see the aftermath of accidents and not actually how they happen. It turns out that his head took most of the impact scoring him five hours of permanent memory loss and a fractured cheekbone and eye socket. He also had to get a metal plate inserted to straighten out his jaw.
Thinking back to a brighter moment from this whole experience I like to recall Corey’s words as he lay in the hospital bed viewing the footage of himself being wrecked for the first time.
“Oh, that’s a make!… OH SHIT! CORPSE!!”
