Meet the Aussie surfer who wants to ride 50-foot waves – and he’s totally BLIND

Matt Formston has overcome multiple obstacles throughout his life – so surfing 50 foot waves at Nazare in Portugal doesn’t faze him.

At the age of five, he developed macular dystrophy and his vision was virtually gone within 12 months.

He quickly developed a philosophy of life – give it a try, and if it doesn’t work out, come up with plan B.

The legally blind father of three — who has a health science degree on his professional resume — doesn’t have everyone in his corner.

Wife Rebecca and children Max, 8, Elsie, 6, and Jake, 4, are all terrified that their hero will seriously hurt himself during one of the world’s most infamous breaks.

Matt Formston is legally blind – but surfing the 50 foot waves in Portugal’s Nazare doesn’t faze him for a second

One mistake could spell serious trouble, and they let him know.

“Max said, ‘Dad, you can’t, you’re going to die,'” Formston recalled to the The Sydney Morning Herald.

“So after this[Nazare adventure]I’m done. I don’t want to do anything that will leave my children without a father.’

As a former paracycling world champion, surfing has always been the passion of the man who learned the fundamentals on a board in Narrabeen, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

He feels at home in the ocean, but Nazare is a different beast altogether.

Not that Formston has any reservations.

“I somehow feel a responsibility. A lot of people have a disability and say, ‘No, too hard,’ when I’ve proven many times that if you have a crack, you’ll find a way,” he said.

His family doesn’t share his fearlessness – most notably his wife Rebecca and his children Max, Elsie and Jake (all pictured)

The swell at Nazare in Portugal can reach monumental heights (pictured, locals watching in February)

“Apart from the fact that my eyes aren’t working, the rest of me is ready.”

In his corner sits Dylan Longbottom, a big-wave legend from Kiama, on the NSW south coast.

Longbottom will ultimately decide whether Formston can safely handle the conditions, where it is literally a matter of sink or swim.

In terms of records in Nazare, Germany’s Sebastian Steudtner surfed a monster 24 meters high in 2020.

And while Formston won’t climb those heights, his determination to conquer his fears in a location where many able-bodied surfers won’t defy fate means he won in the eyes of many before he even donned his wetsuit.