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Not Just Another Day at the Beach 

lizzpeterson

 

This past weekend, the Association of Amputee Surfers in Southern California hosted their monthly surf clinic in San Clemente, CA.  A few classmates and myself signed up as volunteers, while a few others signed up to participate.  It was one of the coolest things I have ever been a part of.  

The participants included persons with transtibial, transfemoral and hemipelvectomy amputations.  There were also persons with traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries at the clinic.  People at the clinic came from all over: Northern California, Washington and even South Africa. 

 

The organization wanted at least a 4 to 1 ratio of volunteers to participants.  There appeared to be about 6 to 1 the day of the event.  The volunteers were surf trainers, in-water assistants, and beach assistants.  The trainers taught each participant the onland and water skills for surfing.  The water assistants helped the participant onto the surfboard, helped grab the surfboard when the participant wiped-out, and added a bit of moral support.  The beach assistants helped the participants into the water if needed, provided extra eyes to watch the safety of the participants, and helped with the moral support.  Since I don’t know how to surf (just yet) I was assigned as a beach assistant. 

 

Everyone was excited when the surfing began.  The waves were plentiful and perfect.  One of the participants with a hemipelvectomy amputation caught one of the first waves.  She rode the wave in a tripod formation, then gained her stability and balanced on one leg the rest of the way.  Everyone on shore cheered for her.  We cheered for everyone that we saw catch a wave that day.  A few of my classmates had some awesome rides, and even better wipeouts.  (Imagine the surfer ‘cartwheeling’ left while the surfboard ‘cartwheeled’ right…). 

 

Awards for the participants were handed out at the end of the clinic: Best Wave, Best Smile, Most Stoked, etc…It was a great end to a great day. A few of my friends that participated in the clinic want to start surfing on a regular basis.  I volunteered to be a surf partner.  We are now on a mission to find some beginner surfboards.

 

Next weekend is the Western Surfing Association’s West Coast Championships in San Onofre, CA.  A few of the trainers are going to be in the challenged athletes division.  A few of us are hoping to get down there to watch and maybe get a surf lesson or two.  I’ve got my wetsuit and sunscreen packed and ready to go!

 

 

For more information: www.ampsurf.org

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Atticus644 : re: Not Just Another Day at the Beach commented on Saturday, October 12, 2019 6:42:11 AM
I got on the beach on Sunday with my family because it is the time which we spend with family in different places. I have https://www.australian-writings.org/ where I got different reviews about different beaches. You should check it as well.

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