’I can’t even walk straight, how am I going to surf?!’
When Suzi told me we were going on a research trip to explore adaptive surfing, my first thought was ‘how on earth am I going to do that?!’ As much as I know how much scope there is for adapting adventure sports I didn’t expect to be able to have my first surfing lesson just yet!
So bright and early on Thursday morning Suzi and Lauren picked me and my brother Ben up (he came as my PA) in this MASSIVE car. I know Suzi had asked for a big car to get my electric chair into, but we didn’t expect this posh all-singing-all-dancing 4x4 we got – it was perfect (not to mention the heated front seats...)
Anyway, on arrival in Bude we were met by our instructors, two of whom (Jon and Becky) were the owners of Big Blue Surf School. Getting into our wetsuits was the first challenge. As they’re meant to be close-fitting it takes a bit of effort to pull them up your legs and then your arms before doing the zip up at the back. The first wetsuit Ben and I fought with was definitely too tight to get over my feet and even Becky tried before we gave up and tried a slightly bigger one which went on perfectly.
I was given a sand chair so that I could be pushed down to the water’s edge to conserve the energy I would undoubtedly need when I got in the water!
There are so many ways to ensure accessibility in surfing; I had a 1-2-1 surfing lesson with Jon while the others had a lesson in BSL, it was inclusive for EVERYONE. While they were warming up and learning the basics on the sand I was straight into the water and off for my first surf!
Getting onto the board in the first place was...interesting! I had to get my stomach on it and then with Jon and Matt’s help get my legs on so that I was lying flat on my stomach. The board I used was adapted so it was a lot easier to get on.
Then we were out to sea! Jon took me out to catch my first wave and as I was a newbie he surfed with me on the back of my board (tandem). I had to be as far back as I could be on the board while still holding on to the handles at the front – the reason being that all the weight needed to be at the back of the board so that it didn’t nosedive and result in me landing in the water! I had a buoyancy aid on though so that in the highly likely event that I did fall off I wouldn’t drown.
It was amazing! Jon surfed on the back of my board for the first 3-4 waves so that I could get the hang of it and I loved it! The feeling is something you’ll have to experience for yourself because it’s incredible and, as Jon said, it’s the closest you can get to flying.
Then he got me surfing on my own. The others were paddling with their arms while lying flat on the board until the right moment to catch a wave but as I couldn’t do this Jon pulled me along with the wave when it came and then let go so that I carried on alone. I fell off twice to begin with (I told you it was highly likely...) because the front of the board was turning slightly at the end as I didn’t know how to control it. To correct this I had to move myself right back on the board, which involved completely letting go of the handles. How could this possibly work though? Surely I’d fall straight off if I let go?
For those of you who have Cerebral Palsy or any other condition that affects your balance you might appreciate my reluctance to do this. Holding onto the handles was, in my mind, stopping me from falling off the board just as holding onto a stair rail stops me from landing in a heap at the bottom. However, I put my faith in Jon (OK, even more faith) and let go of the handles, moving my whole body down the board and just holding onto the sides. To my surprise and great relief I managed to surf right up to the shore without falling off! I could hear Jon behind me telling me when to arch my back – I had to push up on my hands at the right time so that I was putting more weight on the back of the board and stopping it from nosediving and throwing me off. It was then that I realised how far behind me Jon was as he waled in to pull me back out again...I really was surfing on my own!
Now I had the hang of it and wanted to keep going! It was an amazing feeling, and reminded me once again of why I’m involved with iDID. I was catching waves just like everyone else was and I was able to surf on my own, lying flat on a surfboard. After society telling us we can’t do certain things because of our disability there’s nothing like the feeling that actually, we can do it just as well as everyone else and there’s nothing stopping us! My surfing ability was clearly emphasised when at one point I even overtook my brother on his surfboard!
All too soon it was time to come in and get warm. The minute I got out of the water I realised just how tense I had become from the cold as I could barely put one foot in front of the other...just as well the sand chair was there waiting for me! After a lot of warming up, which included a bowl of soup, I regained the movement in my legs and would happily have gone again!
The Big Blue Surf School were fantastic. I can’t wait to go back there and surf with them again and, of course, work with the rest of the team on organising iDID’s first surfing weekend!
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