A 51-year-old Australian surfer has been fatally wounded by a surfboard while surfing Margaret River, WA. It has been reported that the board struck him and severed a femoral artery, the main artery that supplies blood to both legs.

Paramedics and police were on the scene around 11am taking the man, believed to be on holiday from Australia’s East Coast, to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The spot was the site of Samsung Galaxy ASP World Tour event Drug Aware Pro in April, and is popular with visiting surfers and locals alike. It is not considered a particularly dangerous spot compared with several heavy spots in the region.

According to WA journalist and Tracks contributor, Anthony Pancia, who was surfing at the time, conditions were pretty solid at the famous break.

“The swell itself had a funny little angle to it, lots of wide close outs and was really heaving on the inside ledge,” he said. “Lots of people ditch there boards out there, it’s kinda what you do over a certain size and everyone tends to ride bigger boards.”

“But everyone also tends to have a quick look behind them before bailing. But the swell had some real punch to it.”

“I guess this morning looked deceptively mellow from the carpark but again, there were some solid sets just popped up,” he said via Tracksmag.com