Alex Botelho is a Portuguese surfer from Canada who who has dedicated most of his time to Professional surfing.

Alex Botelho was born in Oshawa, Canada in 1991 to a Dutch mother and a Portuguese dad, the only coast around was the frigid northern shoreline of Lake Ontario, where winter temperatures can dip to a brutal -40 degrees Celsius. Alex's family moved back to Portugal when he was 6 years.

According to him, he’s pretty happy about it in retrospect:

According to his friend and partner Hugo Vau, Alex ran into trouble in a big swell when following a wipeout.

He was rescued by his partner Hugo Vau on a Jet Ski. With both men on board, they were unable to outrun a wall of white water rushing up behind them before the craft was hit by another wave from the front.

The pair were sent flying off the jet ski and into the air before further waves pounded down on them.

But unfortunately, Alex was washed towards the shore unconscious where rescue crews scrambled from the beach to drag him to safety before putting him on a spinal board.

He was rushed to hospital where he was “stable and conscious” after being involved in a serious incident at the notorious Nazaré big wave surfing spot on the north Atlantic coast.

The World Surf League announced; “He will stay at the hospital for further evaluation. A heartfelt thank you to the safety and medical teams for their quick response. We are wishing Alex a full and speedy recovery.” ^[4][5][6]

Nic Von Rupp, who is a big wave surfer, said that the alarming series of events was difficult to watch

^[2][3]