A woman was left with a huge gash in her face after colliding with another surfer in a horror smash.
Talitha Tan was riding the waves at her local beach when she decided to ‘duck dive’ the massive swell.
Duck diving is when a surfer holds onto the front of their board and dives under a wave.
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The 27-year-old was happily swooping through the ocean when suddenly something hard hit her face.
“It felt like I heard my skull crack,” the content creator from Bali, Indonesia, told What’s The Jam.
“I was confused, because when you duck dive you have your board in your hands.
“And both my hands were holding tight onto my board.”
As Talitha was in a crowded area, she quickly realised she had collided with another surfer.
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She said: “When I popped out from under water I immediately saw blood, so I swiped my hand across my face and felt a squishy hole near my eye.
“Worried it was my eyelid I shouted over to another surfer who told me to get out.
“I immediately switched to survival mode and got out of the water as quickly as possible.”
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Thankfully, a friend who had been waiting for Talitha on the beach immediately took her to the emergency department.
She said: “While waiting to be treated I realised that it just would not stop bleeding.
“I took out my phone and noticed the never ending hole next to my eye.”
A CT scan showed Talitha’s skull was fine. But medics still had to sort out the huge gash in her face.
She said: “The doctor then came to see me and said that I would need a screw because a tendon was detached, which had to be done in surgery under anaesthesia.
“I woke up to them telling me I’d fractured my nose, detached the tendon and lacerated a tear duct, so the doctor had to use a plate and screw.”
Talitha said recovery has been a process.
She said: “I did think about how it would scar.
“But then I started making jokes about the whole thing.
“It would’ve been the perfect opportunity for a nose job!”
“Recovery was okay but when the stitches were on they’d give me random tingly sensations.
“That was very uncomfortable.
“It was also a mental battle.
“I’ve got a huge scar on my face, and the only way to know if it’ll ever go away is time.
“So every now and then there are days where I just feel like rubbish about my face.
“It’s swollen and makes me feel distorted.
“And often times I think “why me?”
Despite the traumatic incident only happening in July, Talitha is already excited to start surfing again.
She said: “I am already itching to get back into the water.
“I haven’t been able to surf due to recovery so I’m not too sure if I would feel any different when I’m back in the surf.
“But I’m definitely staying away from crowded line ups.
“I don’t necessarily blame the guy for losing control, yes it is very much his fault, but accidents happen.
“Don’t let these incidents scare you, cause I’d rather die knowing that I chose to live than to stay home because I’m too afraid.”
Talitha shared a clip of herself in the hospital to Instagram and the video racked up over 713,000 views.
She can be seen with bandages on her face before she peels them back to show the gash.
Sam said: “DUDE. SO GLAD THAT WASN’T YOUR EYE.”
Nana commented: “You are so strong, heal well.”
Maria added: “Thats going to be a pretty cool scar, glad you’re okay stranger.”
Alisa wrote: “The doctors did so beautifully stitching it up though!|”
Ellyse said: “Thinking of you!”
Kyna added: “Ma’am you have a crater in your face.”
