Garden of Life Brand Ambassador
Wave Master
THE UNSTOPPABLE BILLY KEMPER
RIDES THE WAVES INTO SURFING HISTORY
by Kelly Gray
Photo Credit : Arenui Frapwell
It only takes one moment for everything to come crashing down . One minute you ’ re smiling , a universe of fame and success within reach . The ocean is your playground , your soulmate . And the surfboard that carries you is something you trust like part of your own body .
Then , there is the nothingness of the sea . And you ’ re floating , unaware . Until your eyes snap open and the pain rushes in like a train . The mighty waves that sustain your career , may have just taken it away from you .
Billy Kemper had become the one to watch by anyone ’ s terms at surfing competitions , taking his rightful place in a long line of legendary surfers . Kemper had won four Jaws Big Wave Championship titles , excelling at the Pipeline Masters , and won the Sunset Open .
Preparing for upcoming competitions , he flew to Morocco to surf the gnarly swells that would nearly take his life . At the peak of his career at age 30 , the shallow Moroccan sea floor tried to claim him , but Kemper ’ s unstoppable spirit had other plans .
Physician and friend , Dr . Masi Reynolds described his injuries in episode three of the World Surf League docuseries on Kemper ’ s accident and his recovery . The six-part docuseries was simply titled “ Billy ” and is available in full on YouTube .
“ He had high grade partial thickness tear of ACL , complete tear of medial collateral ligament , meniscus tear surgical injury ,” said Reynolds .
Kemper ’ s broken body also suffered a partial pneumothorax , which was close to full lung collapse , a top-to-hip-joint cracked pelvis and quad muscle contusion . And , he was a world away from state-of-the-art medical care . Just evacuating him from the water to the shore was an exercise in torment , with every bump over the water being dragged on his board a new agony . After days in a foreign hospital and with Covid just beginning to cause shutdowns around the world , it was an arduous journey just to land on United States soil . Kemper and his medical team were turned away at multiple airports . Then he remembered his wife ’ s brother , famed musician Bruno Mars , often flew into Van Nuys . They accepted his plane and that ’ s when Kemper ’ s recovery truly began .
The shape you ’ re in when you become injured has a lot to do with how quickly and successfully you recover . Kemper was already a fitness beast , expertly trained in strength and conditioning programs like CrossFit and gymnastics . He was a certified Extreme Performance Training ( XPT ) trainer . When the accident happened , his body was already primed to recover and his desire to come back at a heightened state .
Elite volleyball superstar Gabrielle Reece and pro surfer Laird Hamilton founded XPT , a series of hard-core fitness workshops that
28 Vol 42 • Extraordinary Health ™