The film was Of Men And Mavericks, a portrait of surfer Jay Moriarty who drowned in a diving accident in 2001. The star was Gerard Butler, playing champion surfer Frosty Henson. The accident almost cost Butler his life.
Surfing is fraught with risks at places like Maverick's, where the film's stunts were being filmed. Despite months of intensive training, Butler got unlucky, knocked off his board by a freak wave. He was trapped underwater as two more waves went over him, and witnesses say he took the force of four or five waves to the head. He was also dragged through rocks before rescuers managed to reach him and get him to the shore.
Butler was conscious when pulled from the water and has spent the last sixteen hours in Stanford Medical Center. No statement has been made on his condition but he is believed to have sustained only minor injuries.
