A deep breath in & out, I embraced my brother-in-law again & I was ready to face this next milestone in my post stroke recovery.
I had played it through my mind a million times during the 1262 days since I had last stood up on a surfboard here.
On that previous occasion in 2019, I was abruptly forced into starting a new version of myself, due to my first stroke event that I survived whilst surfing here.
I went on to survive a few more strokes & life changing surgery due to a rare undiagnosed tumour. My recovery has been heavily shaped by my passion to return to the sea & to experience a feeling that the surfing community call “STOKE”.
The first two waves on my Waikiki surf session were unsuccessful & I was cool with this. I was in my “learn & adapt” mode. I have needed to adopt this mindset in all my day to day tasks. I need to make slight adjustments/ adaptions to compensate for the damage done to my brain & body.
I’ve bumped, tripped & stumbled along my new path to counteract the brain injuries I have acquired. I have been supported & motivated by family, old friends and new friends throughout. The Danny who was now in this wave pool was a very different Danny to the one that had been ambulanced off site a few years ago.
This Danny has more commitment, drive, gratitude & belief than he ever realised before. After listening to my bro-in-law and The Wave staff feedback, I knew this next wave was MY stand up wave.
The old Danny muscle memory joined forces with the new Danny adaptive skill set & we achieved STOKE.
The wave seemed to pick me up effortlessly & I felt the familiar gliding motion under my body. My old reliable pop up ( a fluid prone to standing motion ) happened without thought. I took in the view along the wave face as my body coiled low ready to embrace the bottom turn… it was a beautiful view. The colours of the sunrise danced in front of me & I synced in to a line down the wave wall. I’ll never forget the importance of this view for the rest of my life.
This action would’ve been a small thing to me pre stroke… but today, it quantified the last 1262 days of never giving up & it certainly doesn’t end here! So grateful to the support of family, friends and the many like minded motivators!!
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