Who is Makai McNamara and What happened to him? Pro surfer reportedly in coma following near-fatal accident

Professional surfer Makai McNamara was thrown off his surfboard in a serious accident during a surfing competition at the Banzai Pipeline in Oahu’s North Shore in Hawaii. Island News reported on the incident which took place on February 23. As of the writing of this article, McNamara has been in an induced coma for 72 hours.

Makai McNamara is a professional surfer, local to the North Shore, Oahu. Oahu would be familiar to fans of Moana as the island where Auliʻi Cravalho, the actress who voices Moana, comes from.

McNamara was born in 1995 into a surfing family. His father, Liam McNamara was the Pipe Master in 1990 according to BeachGrit. Makai McNamara ranked 74 in the World Surf League’s 2024/2025 Qualifying Series.

Eli Olson, another pro surfer and friend of Makai McNamara, explained what happened when McNamara was wiped out on February 23 to Island News. McNamara was thrown off his surfboard by a giant wave, according to Olson, who said,

“It was just a bad wave, kind of a freak accident, and he went head first into the reef.”

Olson was talking about the Banzai Pipeline, the Oahu location where enormous waves break onto a shallow reef. According to Vice News, the surf breaks are extremely dangerous at the Banzai Pipeline. The location and its dangerous conditions have been convered in the series Rescue: HI-Surf .

Olson continued to describe the incident, explaining that while lifeguards and surfers were rushing to help McNamara, Olson was the closest. He said,

“He's underwater for close to two minutes before I got to him.”

Olson explained how he attempted to rescue McNamara and the first aid that he provided to the injured surfer, saying,

“First thing, I just wanted to like keep his head above water so he didn't take more water in. I gave him a couple breaths, tried to give him a couple compressions."

Olson continued about the harrowing rescue of his friend,

“Lifeguards did another round of CPR compressions and he started coughing up water.”

It could not have been a pleasant experience for Olson, who described the ordeal of trying to save his friend’s life,

“It’s called a combative state, where it’s kinda like the body is fighting for its life. It’s heavy, especially when it’s one of your best friends, like, seeing them lifeless and purple and not breathing.”

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Makai McNamara’s father shares a health update

Liam McNamara, the father of Makai McNamara took to Instagram to share an update on his son’s health. In a video, Liam could be seen explaining McNamara’s condition,

“It’s very hard to do this but I feel it’s important to let you guys know he’s doing well, you know. It’s been 24 hours since the incident and he’s on his road to recovery and he’s getting very good care here at Queen’s hospital.”

Thanking the people who brought his son to shore, Liam said,

“I think the lifeguards and everybody who helped, so many people, thank you so much for helping save my son. The next two days he’ll be here in the hospital and we just need the continued prayers and positive energy. Makai’s a strong young man and he’s gonna get through this… I will update you again soon.”

Makai McNamara’s brother Landon, who is also a pro-surfer, wrote an update on Instagram, which read,

“He is in the ICU right now & last update is he will be kept asleep for the next 72 hours in order to heal the best. right now we all need to send all of our healing energy & prayers his way. He is so strong and has so much life left in him.”

Liam took to Instagram again asking people to not share a video showing the rescue. The video was distressing to the family, and understandably, Liam did not want the video to be shared repeatedly. Meanwhile, we hope that Makai McNamara recovers soon.