When I started to lose my ability to walk, the focus was on finding out why and doing what was needed to keep the function I had. Over 5 months, I watched as my stability, coordination, and control in my legs went away. It seemed gradual at the time but I didn’t know when it would stop. I was devastated by what was taken from me yet grateful that the decline slowed. Once this plateau happened, I was able to start adjusting to life with a disability…and there was a lot learn. Early on I got into sports because they offered me a challenge that wasn’t related to the skills I was relearning. Throwing a javelin at para-athletics or making a pass at wheelchair basketball felt better than figuring out how to get dressed or showered. Probably because one of those challenges I chose to make and the other felt chosen for me.
I spent the first year and a half trying as many parasports as I could this included golf, wheelchair basketball, para-athletics (seated discus, javelin, and shotput), sit-ski, and surfing. I learned very quick that to try a parasport there needs to be a developed program with the equipment supplied. Not many people know this, but parasport equipment is quite specialized and costly – from what I have seen everything averages $5000 like racing, basketball, and tennis wheelchairs. If you want to pursue a sport often there is a lot of fundraising and grant writing needed to obtain equipment. This was the case for me when I wanted to start surfing.
In August 2022, I attended LifeRollsOn surf event in Nova Scotia where a team of 20 volunteers make 2 lines in the water in which you surf in-between. This set-up along with some modifications to the surfboard allow for participants to safely catch waves. 20 volunteers per group may seem like a lot but when I flipped over on the board, the team quickly had me held up by the shoulders. After catching waves that day I couldn’t get that experience out of my head…the surfing fever was real!
Life Rolls On – Martinique Beach 2022
Image Description: RJ surfing in the middle with team purple volunteers on either side
After some research I came across WaveSki, an adaptive form of surfing where the surfer is seated and uses a paddle to maneuver through the water. This is a sport done by able-bodied surfers and is a great adaptation for surfers with lower limb impairments. No one was pursuing the sport in my province, so I had to reach out to surfers in the USA. I was fortunate to become a High Five Foundation Athlete receiving a grant for WaveSki equipment. Ian at MacSki made my custom board and taught me the basics of the sport through a couple lessons.
I’ve been catching waves on the weekends in-between medical school as a great way to destress. Here are some skills I have learned since starting…
Trial and error is the name of the game. Most things I try don’t work out the first time, usually because how I expect my body to work doesn’t always meet reality.
Getting to the water takes practice. Most of our beaches are only minimally accessible with ramps leading to the sand but not to the water. I have used my wheelchair until the ramp ends, crawled on the sand, been piggybacked, and moved across the rocky beach with my crutches. My current preference is a combo of the methods but in an ideal situation I’d roll my wheelchair to the water directly.
No amount of PT or OT prepared me for getting a wetsuit on. Wetsuits are hard to get on and off in general. Add partial leg function to the equation and it’s a real party. I put the wetsuit on in a similar fashion to pants just with more patience. Once I get the wetsuit to my hips we are really cooking with charcoal then. Taking the wetsuit off, I recruit my partner for assistant where he helps peel the suit down my legs and off the feet. Tip: Keep a plastic container in the car to hold the wet wetsuit before getting it hung up at home.
WaveSki Board & Paddle
Image Description: RJ is on a sandy beach leaning against his wheelchair, holding a paddle with the WaveSki board in front of him
Getting on and off the board. Let’s be real, getting off the board is easy…you just flip over…making sure you know how to get the quick release seat belt undone. Getting back on the board takes a lot of upper body strength similar to pushing up on the side of a pool. Now just imagine that the pool side is moving. It takes practice and I still fall often, which is where practice makes possible.
It’s ok to not have your feet in the foot wells. On the WaveSki there are foot wells that help keep your feet on the board while riding a wave. Being able to keep them in those wells is a skill learned later on. Additionally, because I have partial leg function my foot wells force my knees to be bent. I have found this position challenging to hold but have a goal to keep trying each time I’m out.
Of all the parasports I’ve mentioned they have 1 thing in common…I never did the sport when I was able-bodied. During the first year and a half I found it challenging to do extracurricular activities that I previously participated in. I wasn’t ready to fail at an activity where I once excelled. In fact, it wasn’t until March 2023 that I tried adapted snowboarding, which was a winter activity I did growing up (in the non-adapted form). This is all to say that when learning how to live again, adapted sports/activities gave me a needed sense of challenge and normalcy. Ultimately, helping other areas of my recovery in indirect ways.