Let's Go Surfing Days
Case study for the Disabled Surfers Association of WA.
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A day at the beach is something many of us take for granted but for people with a disability, accessing the sand and surf can be out of the question – it’s just too difficult and dangerous, and would require an army of help.
So when New South Wales surfer Gary Blaschke lost his kneecap in a motorcycling accident and was told he’d never surf again, he rallied the troops.
Gary started the Disabled Surfers Association (DSA) in 1986, organising some friends to take people with disabilities into the surf.
The program quickly extended to cater for all types of disability, and there are now 14 DSA branches Australia-wide and one in New Zealand. A Western Australian branch was started in 2005 with funding from the Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR).
The branch holds three Let’s Go Surfing Days at Leighton Beach during summer months, and also helped to start a Dunsborough branch operating out of Bunker Bay.
DSA WA President Bruce Peel, who also refuses to let his disability get in the way of a good surf, said the Let’s Go Surfing Days had a powerful effect on participants.
“It gives them reassurance that they can go out and do things that other people do in their daily lives,” he said.
“When you get the volunteers coming down to the beach in such large numbers and supporting them…and just even going to the beach – a lot of people in wheelchairs or with mobility problems can’t walk across the sand or get their wheelchairs down the beach.
“We put beach matting down and they can roll down in their wheelchairs, so that gives them a sense of freedom and a bit of independence.”
For Bruce, the reaction of participants exiting the water is enough motivation to keep going.
“Smiles on dials – that’s our motto and that’s what we get, big high fives and cheering. I really love seeing the smiles on their faces,” Bruce said.
“It’s truly amazing when you see a C2 quadriplegic out there having a surf.”
‘Smiles on dials’ are something participants are only too happy to deliver.
Twenty-one year old Cynthia Sasongko was born with Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency (PFFD), affecting development of her thigh bone and causing one leg to reach the opposite one at knee level.
“I never thought I would be surfing,” Cynthia said. “I come from Malaysia where people with disabilities would just stay at home and not even go to school, so I’m blessed to be here.”
Harrison Pratt, 10, has cerebral palsy and autism. Mum Sharon is grateful to the DSA for providing him with the opportunity to get in the water.
“It opens up his opportunities and just the fact I know he enjoyed it,
we’ll come back and do it again. With his disability I could never take
him to the beach, but in this environment it’s great.”
Stacee Parkinson, who is 25, has mild cerebral palsy and is partially blind, thinks the volunteers are “just amazing”.
“To give up their time and make the participants feel welcome and
safe…plus I love to be cheered on,” she said “I’ve never been surfing
before, I reckon it’s gonna be a hoot!”
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