You heard on the news about the live goat that was given as a present to a tiger in a Russian zoo, no? Everyone assumed tiger would tear goat limb from limb and goat would become dinner, but tiger and goat defied all cultural and biological expectations and struck up a friendship that survives to this day. Two months later and still living in perfect harmony! Granted it’s not a direct analogy but it is cute and heartwarming, and so is this tale of interdisciplinary solidarity involving Luis Diaz — Canarian whippersnapper, future king of the world, and European Evan Geiselman. Let it be a lesson to you all.

Luis, we heard you got on the wrong side of an angry slab recently. What’s the story?

I was surfing at El Agujero, this really good righthand slab where I live on Gran Canaria. I’d been surfing for about an hour before the accident. The surf was so good, I got some good barrels and was super stoked, but maybe I got a little too exited.

And the wipeout?

The wave was a medium one, like 6-7 ft. I just remember me going down on takeoff and I don’t really remember much after that. I hit straight into the reef and went unconscious, and was under the water for a minute until a bodyboarder scooped me out, then two more of them helped him get me out of the water.

Hmmm, there’s no such thing as 7ft . . . perhaps you’re still confused. How did it feel when you came to? Where were you?

I started waking up in a car asking, “Where are we going? Whats happening?” That was on the way to the hospital. At the hospital they did a load of tests and magnetic resonances and checked me out. Oh and put some stitches in too.