BIG SUR, Calif. -- A Northern California surfer who holds the Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever paddled into broke his neck in four places during a surfing accident.
The San Jose Mercury News reports that Shawn Dollar also incurred head trauma and a concussion when he hit a rock in Big Sur on Monday.
He is in stable condition and said in a news release he expects to make a full recovery.
Dollar first appeared on the big-wave surfing radar during the 2010 Maverick's surf contest along the coast south of San Francisco.
He wasn't invited to compete, but surfed a 55-foot wave during a session before the final, which set the Guinness record.
In 2012, he topped his own mark, setting the current Guinness world paddle record when he surfed a 61-foot wave off of Baja California.
