Another surfer injured at Wedge

A local man suffered a possible spinal injury when a wave at the Wedge in Newport Beach tossed him overhead and smashed him into the ocean floor, lifeguard officials said Thursday.

The man, whom authorities declined to identify, was body surfing at the Wedge about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when he got tumbled in the surf, said lifeguard Battalion Chief Jim Turner.

Other surfers found the man lying face-down in the water and, with lifeguards assisting, swam the man into shore, Turner said.

“The surf is much bigger and better than we expected,” he said. The surf was growing throughout the week and was up to 15 feet Thursday at the Wedge.

While the man’s injuries were not immediately clear, paramedics were treating it as a spinal injury, Turner said.

“It certainly looked serious when he left the beach,” he said.

A man was killed in July at the same surf spot when a large set of waves slammed him into the jetty. The county coroner later determined that the man drowned.

— Joseph Serna