Up and coming Nitro and Quiksilver team rider Cole Ortega lost his left arm in a surfing accident off the coast of Cape Kiwanda in Tillamook, Oregon this weekend. The arm was reattached in an emergency surgery on Sunday night and the procedure appears to have been successful.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Cole and his family and we wish him a speedy recovery.

According to the Associated Press:

Sheriff Todd Anderson said Cole Ortega collided with a dory boat that was coming into shore in 8- to 10-foot swells.

An official with the High Cascade Snowboard Camp said Ortega, a top performer on the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation snowboard team, underwent surgery to reattach the arm.

“So far, it looks successful,” Michele Schnake told NewsChannel 21 by e-mail Sunday night. “They are watching for signs of infection.”

Schnake said Ortega, who has won national snowboarding titles, is on the “grom squad” at Mt. Bachelor, “a group of young kids who are sponsored by the mountain. They represent Mt. Bachelor when they compete around the U.S. and at snowboarding nationals every year.”

“All our snowboard team’s prayers are with him,” Schnake said, adding that Ortega had been at the snowboard camp last week, “shredding as usual.”

An emergency room doctor who happened to be walking on the beach stabilized the boy until he could be taken to a hospital.

Ortega had been surfing with his 16-year-old sister and her boyfriend. Other members of Ortega’s family also were on scene.

Cape Kiwanda is home to a large dory fishing fleet and also a popular surfing location. The ocean was fairly rough Sunday, with swells higher than nine feet - great surfing conditions, but also providing poor visibility for dory boats coming to shore, troopers said.

Shortly before 10 a.m. Oregon State Police Senior Trooper Doug Shuart saw a dory boat preparing to come to shore, then heard from citizens that the boat had struck a surfer. He found the injured surfer, who had been aided to shore by other surfers, one of whom recovered the limb.

Shugart began providing emergency first-aid before spotting the ER doctor walking on the beach nearby. The trooper took the boy in his patrol car to the main Cape Kiwanda parking lot while the ER doctor provided care. He was soon transferred to an ambulance and taken to Tillamook County General Hospital.

After the accident, Tillamook County deputies got the surfers out of the ocean, so the boats could safely return.

Click HERE to view a local news video about the event.

Tags: cole ortega, surfing accident

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 7:01 am and is filed under NEWS. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.