Gent’s Talk: Healing, HBO & the 60 ft. Wave with C.J. Macias

Many of us sit in awe of the individuals who push limits and test boundaries. We look at them with a sort of reverence, almost a little bit of envy. The shackles of our jobs often become the excuse for why we don’t go out into the world and ‘be free’. We watch as these daredevils climb mountains, sky dive from insane heights, or surf 60ft waves.

Speak to any one of these people and you may quickly find the line of separation between you is quite thin. They, like you, have dreams and aspirations. And yes, life has also beaten them down and forced upon them hard truths. C.J. Macias is one of those people. Macias is the daredevil surfer who not that long ago had to struggle with the possibility that his body was no longer working for him.

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Setback

Born in Miami, Florida, Macias grew up playing soccer and was an avid cyclist. He initially dabbled in surfing at seven years old before a traumatizing experience in the water left him thinking this wasn’t for him. He describes it as “feeling abandoned getting pounded by the ocean”. It wasn’t long however before he returned to surfing and began doing it competitively. He also began to pursue a career in professional volleyball after spending his high school years playing competitively.

In 2011/12, Macias was in a jet-ski accident when he was hit in the ribs and for the next month found himself having difficulty breathing. The injuries didn’t stop there and he had to pause all his surfing activities. “I also blew out a disc in my lower back that came to irritate my sciatic nerve and that was it for my athletic abilities”. He lost over thirty pounds of muscle, was living in constant pain and began a battle with his mental health. “There was frustration of not being able to socialize because I was always feeling pain in my body”.

Journey to Recovery

“That first major injury took away everything I thought I knew. It showed me how I needed to come into a better balance of how I’m using my energy and my body”. For Macias to get back to a place of peace within himself, it required a significant commitment to his mind and his body. “I was bed-ridden trying to work it out on my own. It finally got out and I felt the support”.

It ultimately came to “what now? I can stay stuck in this story sulking about it, or I can shift my mind to healing”. He had gone to massage therapy school and was ultimately introduced to a family that turned him onto ‘vision quest’. A four day retreat alone in the forest with no food and water. “There’s nothing to do to distract the mind. It’s a lot of meditating”. Ultimately, he left the retreat with a sense of gratitude, “the flood of how spoiled and ungrateful I’ve been in my life just to have clean water, whatever I want to eat, all these things that so many don’t have access to. The tears started flowing”.

The Wave

In 2018, Macias became an ocean beach lifeguard and quickly realized surfing may not be done for him after all. The opportunity to test his limits came in the form of a surfing contest in Nazaré on January 8th, 2022. “I caught a couple of waves and I’m sitting in the water doing my breathing, getting centered, this wave appears and I’m like yea!” Unfortunately, this was no ordinary wave as it grew to over 60ft.

The fear gripped him and the realization that the situation was worsening tested all of his limits. “I start flying down this thing, then I feel the water. I was surprised I made it down so far.” He was missing for approximately five minutes before somehow resurfacing, incredibly, with only a dislocated elbow and ruptured eardrum. But for Macias, it was more than that. In those five minutes, it was a battle for his life. “The bang into the water shocked me into surrender…I realized the inflation vest had gone off on its own…I was at least 25-30 feet deep”.

He was ultimately hit by multiple waves while fighting to get back to the surface. “I started thinking about my oxygen. What happens if I pass out, will I involuntarily breathe in water?”. He began to center himself again to focus on finding a solution to get through this. “I was in so much pain and also thinking my spine is intact. Wow I’m going to make this. I’m going to survive this. I had this positivity in this experience”. Fortunately, after a failed rescue attempt and a few more waves tossing his body around, he was tossed towards the shore and was ultimately rescued. “It was the ride of a lifetime” he says with a giant smile on his face.

What’s Next

C.J.’s surfing success has led him to appear in HBO’s “100 Foot Wave”. He also finds purpose in his work with the”Waves of Life” project with The McNamara Foundation helping at-risk youth strengthen their connection with nature and themselves through the power of surf therapy. At the end of all of this, if there was a piece of advice he can impart, it’s to “go for it. Go for it with the gratitude and reverence for life”.