At eight he sold gum on the street in Mexico City. He was a runaway, sleeping in bushes and bus stops. If the police caught him they would throw him in a juvenile detention centre, so he hid at night and worked on the streets to survive. Eventually he had enough money to buy a bus ticket to Puerto Escondido, a small town where young kids could ride surfboards on the big waves.

The watershed moment of his career came when he was 17 and he was photographed surfing a gigantic wave at Puerto Escondido. He says it changed his life forever. Determination and following every opportunity led him to where he is today.

Now recognised as the best big wave surfer in Mexico, he has surfed around the world, including taking on the waves in Hawaii and the Polynesian Islands.