Disabled surfers thrill at catching a wave
People with mental and physical disabilities find their mojo at SA champion Roxy Davis’s surf school
Pamela Hansford whoops and does a thumbs-up as she glides past on a surfboard, propped up by her elbows. A year ago, a steep wave slammed the intrepid 75-year-old into the shore at Muizenberg, breaking her neck. Now, a crowd of volunteers and coaches cheer her on before moving in to turn her board around and push it back out to catch the next wave. “It’s wonderful,” Hansford says. “To be in the water and to feel the movement again, it’s really special.” On the beach, SA surf champion Roxy Davis briefs the next group of volunteers. Since 2016, Davis’s surf school Surf Emporium has been hosting training clinics to introduce people with physical and mental disabilities to the thrill of catching a wave. “Whether you are an able-bodied surfer or somebody with a disability, whether it’s your 10th time surfing or your very first, that joy and that stoke [thrill] is the same,” she says. “It gives me the same goosebumps watching each wave at each session.” People with disabilities have been ...
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