Brazilian pro-surfer João Chianca nearly killed after wipeout at Hawaii’s Pipeline

The fourth-best surfer in the world nearly died Sunday after he was knocked unconscious and tumbled underwater for several minutes in Hawaii’s Banzai Pipeline Sunday.

Brazilian pro-surfer João Chianca was “completely purple” when other surfers and lifeguards pulled him out of the water off Ehukai Beach on Oahu’s North Shore after a massive wave crashed over him, Hawaii News Now reported.

Chianca, 23, was atop a wave when he free-fell without his board, a routine maneuver done by surfers when they won’t make the wave, according to the publication.

But Chianca didn’t pop back up to the water’s surface.

The surfer, ranked number four by the World Surf League, is believed to have struck his head either on the ocean floor or his board and was underwater for several minutes, the local publication reported.

“There was actually three more waves that he got on the head, and he was underneath water,” Honolulu Ocean Safety Lifeguard Ian Bachmann told Hawaii News Now.

“In that moment, things happened so quick, but when we saw his body floating there, we thought we got to get to him as fast as possible.”

Lifeguards and fellow surfers rushed over to Chianca, who was unconscious, and pulled him to shore, where they performed CPR.

The Brazilian athlete had a pulse but was purple and not breathing, surfers who helped rescue him told Surfline. He spat out water and foam once lifeguards began chest compressions and his chest began to move as he took breaths on his own again.

He was given oxygen and regained consciousness — blinking and groaning — before he was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, the outlet reported.

Pro-surfer Kala Grace who had a brush with death last winter in a similar wipeout that left him in rehab for months said watching the “gnarly” scene unfold was traumatic.

“I saw him laying there completely purple out cold and all the lifeguards around, and all I could see lying on the board was just me because that was just me in January,” he told Hawaii News Now.

Hawaii’s Pipeline is famous for its impressive surf and barreling waves and draws professional surfers from around the world each winter — but its waters can be unrelenting.

“João is so talented and so gnarly,” pro-surfer Eli Olson told Surfline. “I was watching him go on some crazy waves that day. But if you put enough time out at Pipeline, it’s not a question of if but when you’re gonna have a bad fall.”

Bachmann also echoed the sentiment.

“Joao is like one of the best surfers on the planet, and it just goes to show Pipeline does not discriminate if you are the best surfer in the world or the worst,” Bachmann told Hawaii News Now.