The 28-year-old Portuguese surfer, Vasco Ribeiro, shared on his social networks the harrowing account of a serious accident that occurred off the coast of Morocco, in Africa. He revealed that he received 50 stitches in his face after falling down a tube and colliding with a rock. Vasco expressed his gratitude to his friends who rescued him from the sea after the incident, which happened last Monday, 30, in the coastal region of Agadir, Morocco. In his post, the surfer described how he lost consciousness and feared he might drown.
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“I’m here thanks to my brothers Ramzi Boukhiam, Achraf Bakhcha and Ismael, who pulled me out of the water by my shoulders and took me to the hospital, where I immediately underwent surgery and received 50 stitches on my face,” he shared. “Now I’m hospitalized until I recover as best I can! Thank you very much to my entire Moroccan family, without them I wouldn’t be here writing this post.”
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Vasco Ribeiro, five-time Portuguese surfing champion, won the world junior championship in 2014, becoming the first athlete from Portugal to achieve this feat. Additionally, he competes in the QS, the second division of world surfing.
Last July, the athlete was banned for three years for failing to take a doping test. At the time, Ribeiro acknowledged his problems with drug use and declared: “The time has come to accept the consequences of my actions and publicly say that I was wrong.”