It’s a cold hard fact that the chasing the WQS is a grind. But 24 year-old Margaret River local Jerome Forrest has his sights fixed firmly on the prize. He’s currently in Mexico enjoying the cheap beers, tacos and tropical playground in between the next series of 6 Star events dotted around the globe. Tracks caught up with the frequent flyer to shed some light on the life and times of a ‘QS shredder.
Hey there Jerome, what’s happening?
Right now I’m in Mexico. I’ve been here for about a month doing a couple of WQS events and a bit of free surfing in between.
What’s the plan from here?
I’ll head home for about a month, then it’s off to Europe for that leg of the QS which is always fun, as it’s summer over there right now.
What’s the overall plan?
Just to have fun. I’m enjoying travelling around on the WQS trying to bang out a few results and get onto the WCT. But, it’s always fun doing trips and scoring good waves.
You had one hell of an accident up North a while back, what happened there?
Yep, it was my first trip up there. I was there with Russell Ord and I was having a great old time till the second last day. It was about six foot and we hit it pretty early. I got a good one and I remember standing in the barrel and my board started to slide out, then my back foot slipped off which caused my board to slide further while my front foot was still on the board. I remember the lip landing on my leg like it was on a chopping board. It snapped my femur in half. It took forever to get to shore, then I still had to get up the limestone cliff. So a couple guys gaffer taped me to a board then they passed me up the hill. Luckily there was a doctor surfing the same break and he gave me some pethadine before the two hour trip to the closest hospital, which was in Canarvon.
Nice, then what?
Then I was flown down to Perth for an operation. I had a steel rod and two screws placed in my leg. The worst thing though was being told I was not going to be able to surf for a year. I was devastated. But I found a good rehabilitation clinic and got lots of physio and was back in the water after 12 weeks.
Missing home?
I always miss home. We get some of the best waves in the world, but being winter, it gets really stormy and windy with heaps of rain, so I don’t mind being away from that.
Sponsors? Globe, Otis Eye Wear, Creatures of Lesiure and XCEL Wetsuits.
