Since becoming a member of Ksusa.org I have realised how much of an integral role kneeboarding plays in all the lives of each and every member, especially the creators. So I thought I would contribute a little kneeboarding story to this forum topic – my story.
I am a 31 yr old kneelo and I suffer from “ischaemic paralysis”, which simply put means that the nerves in my spine were damaged resulting from a heart operation I had in ’86 to rectify a heart defect from birth. How does that happen you may ask?, well I haemorrhaged on the table and slipped into a coma thus the blood supply was held off from the spine for a while to essentially save my life and the nerves which needed the oxygen from the blood went without long enough to be permanently damaged. So I survived, however I awoke with the inability to move my legs. Through intensive rehab I improved over a year from a wheelchair, to 2 walking sticks to walking without aid BUT unable to curl my toes downward. That sounds a fairly minor problem, but to give you an idea of what its like try walking with your toes curled upward….and that’s how they remain today. So here I was nearly 15 yrs old, living near the beach (Umina, Central Coast Oz) & surfed (stand-ups) all my life, now with the balance ability of the town drunk. I was one very depressed teenager to say the least. However, I still felt that there was hope. So I got myself a mini mal believing the extra stability from the longer vehicle would be just the ticket. Although, being the typical teenager I was very against the idea of paddling into a crowded line up with what looked like a complete lack of ability. So this is where 1 of the 2 most supportive, selfless mates anyone could ever ask for in his life played his role in helping me return to the water. His name is Davin Smith. Basically, he forced me to get up every morning before school for a surf, rain, hail or shine and go surfing as to avoid the crowded line ups later in the day. He could have surfed anywhere anytime but chose to push me every morning into the waves. Of course there were still people out for the morning glass, so we surfed off the main peaks, I felt guilty about this and would tell him that he could head over to the main peak and didn’t need to baby-sit me. This was usually met with further words of encouragement or a simple shutup. I guess that’s why today even though we live 150 km part he is still one of my closest and dearest mates.
Unfortunately, try as I might, without those crunching toes I could not balance properly. So here comes the point of the story, the essence, the basis, whatever you want to call it, thank god I hear you cry. I remember this one day I was inches away from packing it all in. I loved going surfing with my friends, however once in the water it was becoming harder and harder to keep up the brave face. I had thought of what seemed the only alternatives: wave ski, or bodyboarding. I have respect for everyone’s choice of vehicle out there, but I just never saw those as an option. To me it wasn’t quite the same and I was going to retire from surfing altogether. It was at this stage that the second half of my supremo mate’s contingent played his role in returning me to the water. His name is Rod Bartlett. Basically Rod had an uncle who was a dead keen kneeboarder and member of the Southside kneeboarders at the time. Rod had spoken to his uncle about my situation and suggested that it may be worth a try, I think I thought about it for a millisecond and agreed it could be answer. As I can lift my toes upward to grip in the kneeling position I imagined I would have the balance capability close to that of any other kneelo. The next thing I know Rod has again done a little behind the scenes negotiating and organised for me to have one of his uncle’s older kneeboards (an Express) and the rest as they say is history.
The first wave I ever kneeboarded was at Blueys beach on the point round the corner from Boomers. I picked up a nice 2fter with a wall that held up all the way to the beach. And I remember clear as a bell that when I pulled off, I said “I CAN DO THIS!” And from that day forward the privately depressed and bitter teenager was no more. Kneeboarding gave me a passion, a confidence and above all a level of happiness which I had not felt in a long time. Kneeboarding is the only real physical activity I can do or attempt to do sometimes hehehe, on an equal level with anyone else. And quite frankly I can’t think of anything I’d rather do. . Alas, of late I have let it slip with work and family commitments, although that is all changing right now, mainly due to my current driving force, my loving wife Louise. I even have a little surfing gathering planned in a few weeks with my old surfing buddies Rod and Davin. To this day I don’t know how much they both realise how deeply important to my life what they both did for me was. I’m sure all of us have a Rod or Davin out there…
So there you have it, I hope you don’t see this as a bit melodramatic dribble. I don’t usually discuss this openly and honestly and I never have seen myself as disabled or never request to be treated differently in any way. I guess the gist of my story and why I decided to write and post it was that I was very pleasantly surprised at the outstanding communal spirit between kneelo’s. It is more than just a hobby for you guys; it’s a way of life. It certainly became a way of life for me, mainly thanks to the support of the truly great friends and the fact that kneeboarding is above all fun….
jonnyh
Thank you for sharring it w/ us.
