In case you missed it, dual world champion Andre Botha added lifesaver to his list of achievements when he rescued pro surfer Evan Geiselman at Pipeline yesterday.

Riptide editor Michael Saunders caught up with Dre from his temporary residence in Oahu via FaceTime to talk about the events that unfolded yesterday, and what has happened since.

FULL REPORT: ANDRE BOTHA SAVES PRO SURFER EVAN GEISELMAN AT PIPELINE

RAW FOOTAGE: ANDRE BOTHA RESCUES EVAN GEISELMAN AT PIPELINE

KELLY SLATER AND MICK FANNING TAKE TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO THANK ANDRE BOTHA

MS: What have you been up to since the incident?

AB: Yesterday, after it happened, I just went back and surfed for like four hours after that. I didn’t really want to come back home thinking about it nonstop. I guess I thought surfing was the best thing to do. I was just cruising in the lineup, I wasn’t trying hard to get waves. I just needed to clear my mind and riding waves was the best thing to do. It is like sea therapy.

So many people have reached out to me it is crazy. It has given me a new faith in humanity. Trish (Andre’s wife) said it best: there is so much bad stuff in the news all the time that it is refreshing to see something that could be so bad turn out good. I’m grateful that Evan is fine and have blown away by all the well wishes and thank you’s. I’ve never been somebody that is good with praise. this is my chance to say ‘thank you’ to everyone else. It’s sometimes been difficult for me to see the good in humanity, but it is in my face now. so I guess thanks to everyone.

“…there is so much bad stuff in the news all the time that it is refreshing to see something that could be so bad turn out good.”

MS: What is it like being thrust into the spotlight with surfing and mainstream media?

AB: Another way that I look at it; so many people are saving lives every day. Doctors lifesavers and people doing crazy things to save others like in the Paris attacks. It’s hard for me. I’m pretty confused about everything. I am just grateful that so many people are taking the time to say thank you. What it boils down to for me is: I was the right guy at the right place and at the right time. Life just seems to happen that way sometimes. I have had experiences on a smaller scale so I can understand how things like that can happen.

MS: So tell us what actually happened that day?

AB: I’ll start from the very beginning. Everyone could see the swell coming for a while and with the surfing contest starting soon, I knew it was an opportunity to get big Pipe where it is almost too big. I knew ahead of time that Pipe would be the place to be. What actually ended up happening was we walked to Pipe to check it first thing in the morning but it was too big and washing through. so we got a ride to Waimea shorebreak with Matt (Castiglione, local photographer). I ended up surfing the shorebreak for about an hour and a half but it wasn’t very big and pretty slow. The next step was to go to Pipe. And there were little things leading up to getting there like talking to our old landlord on the way. They were little things that happened and if they didn’t I probably wouldn’t have been there at the time I was.

Jamie O’Brien and all his friends were doing step offs at Pipe. I had never seen that before. It was kind of junky still but me and Seabass (Perez) saw one or two good ones and it was starting to turn on. There was a 30-minute window where it was me, Seabass and a Hawaiian bodyboarder called Ian catching waves while the others did step offs. It turned on and we got some sick waves and more people started heading out. At that point there was 10 to 15 people in the lineup. There were hardly any rights that day, but a nice looking one came and wedged across. it looked so nice and I ended up going and got a good ramp to do an invert.

After that wave, I was paddling back around from Backdoor, and you could see in the footage (of Evan’s wave) was going past and duck diving. I was watching the wave from the side and just enjoying his ride. I could tell it was closing out so I ducked through and I was in the lineup already as it was closing out. I knew he had wiped out, and knew it was a big one. By instinct, I always look back and see if the guy is okay. I’ve always done that. I could see the board tombstoning, which isn’t unusual at Pipe, and in my mind I thought he was going to come up. But it kept tombstoning. And it took me a while because I was still thinking he is going to come up but he never did.

“…it took me a while because I was still thinking he was going to come up but he never did.”

I started paddling towards the board and Zak (Noyle, Hawaiian photog) was near me and asked if he was alright. It then clicked and I went straight towards him. When I got to his board it was still tombstoning. After that things happened quickly. I went down to find him and he was floating head down with his pointed up to the surface. I managed to get him up but I got hit by a wave and lost him. As this was happening the rip was strong on the inside of Pipe and we had been moved down the beach. I managed to get him up again and when I when saw his face I knew he was in terrible shape. His face was a dark blue, he was foaming at the mouth, his eyes were rolled back and he was totally limp. Everything happened so fast but it was sort of slow motion. His eyes rolled back and he was looking at me but they were just a blank look. At that point I honestly thought he was dead because his eyes were so blank.

“At that point I honestly thought he was dead…”

That is when I went into some sort of survival mode. I knew I had to do more than just hold him up. That’s when I blew air into him and I saw some water coming out of his mouth. From there everything moved quickly, we were getting hit by waves and moving across. There was a bit of a struggle and this whole time we were moving down the beach because of the rip and it was moving us into shallow water. After looking back at the footage, I wasn’t concentrating on getting him into shore as much as the lifeguards did. I knew the waves were pushing us in. Once we were down pretty far that’s when the lifeguards came. I think (former pro bodyboarder) Jason Bitzer was the first lifeguard to grab him. They were quick and sharp man! They basically took over at that point. all I could do was assist. they got him on the thing and at that point I just tried to take his leash off his leg. but hey I was struggling.

That’s when I think Mick (Fanning) came out at that point. he was the first pro surfer there. Then when we got right on the shorebreak a bunch of other surfers got there to help like Danny Fuller and Kalani Chapman. They got him on the beach and all started shouting, “you got this Evan! You’re going to make it!”

I was just standing back to see what was going on. I could see he was alive and I was surprised. When I first saw him I thought he was gone. They turned him on his side, and had a special CPR device. and the water was flowing out. I was sort of just watching from a distance at that point. it was a huge scene on the beach with people everywhere.

Then the EMS (Emergency Medical Systems) service came after, and they took him to the beach park where they had him on his side. That’s when he threw up the majority of the water. Basically at that point I did what I could. It was up to a higher power or his fighting spirit. I didn’t know if he was going to be all right or not.

After that, Matt was like, “let’s get out of here and get lunch,” but I just knew I wanted to go surf.

MS: Were you rattled at all when paddling back out there?

AB: It didn’t really phase me that heavily. I knew that was the most I could do. That was the most physical expenditure I could have done. I was physically tired and I saw the waves firing and thought the best thing to do was surf.

MS: Had you ever been in a situation like that before?

AB: It had never happened to me in the water. I had always had this feeling it was going to happen eventually. By being around the ocean and dangerous waves so often it would probably occur at some point in my life.

MS: When you did the resuscitation had you had any training or was it instinct?

AB: I did junior lifeguards when I was young. I mean, I’m not professional at all. But you know you see these things and your mind takes over. I think that was just instinctual at that point. they taught me how to do CPR as a junior lifeguard but I’m not even sure what I did was correct. I just saw this guy and I thought he was dead and I had to do whatever I could, you know? In the footage, I hit him in the chest. my Dad is a doctor and he always said if someone is dying, hit them on the chest. That’s one thing I remember him telling me.

MS: A lot of people have said what you did could have been the difference between life and death for Evan…

AB: Geez, I don’t know. it’s hard for me to fully credit myself. I will never really know for sure. I keep going back to the fact I thought he was dead. I don’t know how else to explain it. From my opinion most surfers probably would have done the same thing in that situation given how he looked to me at the time, you know? With something like that, there is something else that takes over. And looking at it from another point, what did I have to lose? I couldn’t handle taking a dead person into the shore, that wasn’t an option for me at that point. I’m just grateful for all the support.

“I coudln’t handle taking a dead person in to the shore, that wasn’t an option for me at that point.”

MS: Did you know Evan at all before yesterday?

AB: Not really. I think I heard his name before, he is an up and coming young surfer and I follow the surfing contests. I am sure I had heard his name before but never knew him personally.

MS: Have you spoke to him since?

AB: Yesterday evening I was so tired that I just ate a heap of food and went to bed. Trish watched the footage last night and was on the verge of tears. I was like, “nah, I don’t want to watch it I’m going to bed.” This morning, after a surf, I went through all my messages. Somebody from Red Bull (Evan’s sponsor) asked me to call them. I called him and he was in contact with Evan and his family and gave me an update this morning, at that point he was still in an induced coma.

Later on I saw a photo of Evan in hospital with a shaka. Judging the photo, he was looking good man! Compared to when I first met him face to face in the wate he looks incredible now and it is really good to see.

MS: Will you visit him?

AB: Yeah I think I will try to go to the hospital tomorrow or the next day.

MS: Do you think your actions might help bridge a gap between bodyboarders and standup surfers at a place like Pipe?

AB: I’m not too concerned about that. For me, Evan’s wellbeing was the most important thing throughout this process and the outpouring of gratitude from everyone is phenomenal. That’s all I care about. I’ve spent a lot of time in bodyboarding trying to get respect from surfers because I respect them. I got to the point where it doesn’t bother me, I don’t care anymore, you know what I mean? There are surfers that are cool and I know who they are, the others are just petty. We are all wave riders, they can think what they want.