Newcastle resident Vinnie Walsh is an extreme sport king. If it involves speed, danger, heights, water and spills, then Vinnie is at the head of the queue. Even better if it involves all of them. Mountain bike dirt jumping, BMX, snowboarding, long boarding, skateboarding – Vinnie has been there, done that, and worn the bloodied t-shirt.

"The scariest moment was when I broke my wrist in two different places and dislocated it. I had to have a pin placed in it, and the doc said that if I broke it again then it might get paralyzed," says human crash test dummy Vinnie. "It spooked me for a while, but why live in fear?"

Interesting injuries seem to be an everyday occurrence for Vinnie, but strap a plank to his soles and the world takes on a new spin.

"I enjoy the freedom and feeling you get from skateboarding. It lets you go anywhere, and your only limitation is yourself," says Vinnie.
So what's next for our half-pipe hero? What else, but to get back to the roots of surfing and catch a monster wave in Maui, and to just hang five.

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