Justin Holland in Hospital with a broken leg

A Monster wave near Margaret River on the Australian west coast has left Starboard SUP surfer Justin Holland in hospital with a broken femur.

Justin Holland, who is from Gold Coast, found himself submerged under tonnes of water with an impact so savage it broke his leg. Jamie Mitchell rushed the surfer back to shore where he was taken by ambulance to Margaret River Hospital before being transferred to Bunbury for surgery.

“His left femur is completely broken and that’s a really dangerous injury because you can sever the artery and bleed out,” Mr Mitchell said.

“It was one of the biggest waves ridden in Australia, for sure.”

Justin Holland broke his leg after wiping out surfing this massive wave, off Gracetown on Saturday.

Photographer Jamie Scott added: “It was huge, with probably a 60 or 70 foot (18-21 metre) face. It was probably the biggest wave ever ridden in Australia. Justin got to the bottom of it and then it cleaned him up.”

The wave eclipsed the 40ft (12m) wave which took top prize at the Oakley Big Wave award in February. The biggest wave ever ridden was 100ft (33m) off Portugal.

On Friday, Margaret River’s Felicity Palmateer, 22, became the first woman to catch a Cow Bombie monster, riding three waves.

“I’ve still got adrenaline running through my body 24 hours later. You let go of the rope and it keeps getting steeper and steeper and steeper. I was just happy to be back on land in one piece,” she said.

[Felicity Palmateer becomes the first female to ride a monster wave at Cow Bombie off Grac]

Felicity Palmateer becomes the first female to ride a monster wave at Cow Bombie off Gracetown. Photo: Felicity Palmateer/Nimai Strickland. Source: Supplied

Near Denmark, Ben Rufus caught a big ride at a secret break that erupts out of deep water onto a shallow slab of rock.

[Is this Australia’s biggest ever wave?]

Denmark surfer Ben Rufus riding a monster wave near Denmark. Photo: Russell Ord/www.russellordphoto.com. Source:Supplied

The swell, generated by an intense low pressure system in the Southern Ocean, is expected to drop to about 3m in the South-West on Sunday.

A dangerous conditions warning remains in place for fishermen, swimmers and boating enthusiasts.