Many uncertainties have swirled around Owen Wright’s year long struggle with his head injury after a hold down at pipe left him with a severe concussion and bleeding on the brain at the end of 2015. After a year long hiatus from competition and little communication, the surfing world was left to question if Owen would ever surf like he did again. Owen posted a picture to Instagram a few months after the incident his caption stating that he couldn’t even stand up on a long board.
From dominating Pipeline to being fearful of 1ft waves – quite a scary transition. Throughout the year long recovery process, little was said about Owen. We just got the vague feeling that he was, slowly, getting better. The Wright family – a close knit crew of avid surfers – remained quiet and much was left to the imagination.
After returning to competition this year by winning the 2017 Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast, Owen’s story is now an epic, miraculous comeback tale.
The year 2016 was no doubt difficult for the Wright family despite the thrill of Tyler Wright winning her first world title and Owen welcoming a son into the world with his girlfriend Kita Alexander.
And now the Wright family are breaking the silence.
The ABC’s Australian Story sat down with the Wright family to hear them speak about Owen’s recovery and the impact his sister, Tyler, had in bringing her brother back to his feet. From the moment Owen was in ICU, Tyler considered pulling out of her 2016 World Title race to look after him. And while she ended up finishing the year – and winning the title – she remained her brother’s keeper.
All For The Family will premiere on Monday, March 27, and take a look into Tyler’s relationship with her brother, and Owen’s road to recovery featuring interviews from the likes of Mick Fanning, and Stephanie Gilmore. Check out a snippet below: