One of the great things about living in Hawaii is sharing the magic and wonder of our island home with visitors from the world over. Our healing waters are a destination for people from all over the globe, and this past Day at the Beach we had the opportunity to be ambassadors of aloha to new friends from Japan, New Zealand, Peru, and the Mainland (via Ecuador!).
Fernando is originally from Ecuador, though he moved to LA some time ago to be near family. It had been nearly 17 years since he was last in the water. Those that were floating with him in the water were incredibly touched by his contagious joy and appreciation. Once back on land, he left a wake of volunteers with teary eyes as he expressed how much it meant to him to get back in the water after 17 years.
Ross came to us from New Zealand, where he runs an adaptive surfing and outrigger paddling program. So his kind words about the experience he had on this side of the Pacific mean even that much more to us. “The surfing and whole Day at the Beach with you all at AccesSurf was so much fun and welcoming of us. You all embody and are being the Aloha vibe which makes the wave adventure so much, much more incredible for a C5/6 tetraplegic to experience surfing Hawaii. So grateful to you all.” Mahalo Ross!
Jion is an active amputee from Japan, he skates and snowboards. So when coming to Hawaii to visit it was natural he would want to learn how to surf!
Carolinais from Peru, and was visiting her good friend here in Hawaii who had recently had a baby. Carolina wanted to get in the water but didn’t want to put the burden on her friend to assist her in the water. So she came to us, where she made a ton of new friends who were stoked to help her get in the water.
