Volunteers from Crescenta Valley joined hundreds of others to help some surfers catch the best waves of their lives.

By Mary O’KEEFE

“I started 15 years ago when [my son] Hunter did Life Rolls On (They Will Surf Again) with the CVHS swim team,” said Mike Leum.

Leum is well known throughout the community – and beyond – as being a member of the Montrose Search and Rescue team but on three to four weekends during the summer he can be found in the ocean, behind a surfboard, guiding surfers to the shore.

Life Rolls On (LRO) – They Will Surf Again is an organization that allows people living with paralysis to ride the waves and, according to its website, hosts the largest adaptive surf events in the world.

In 1996, Jesse Billauer was very close to becoming a professional surfer. He was surfing at Zuma Beach when he was pushed into a shallow sandbar. He fractured his neck and sustained a C-6 complete spinal cord injury, resulting in quadriplegia.

He said after the injury he still wanted to surf and wanted to share his love of surfing with others. Initially, he fundraised for spinal cord injury research and support through Life Rolls On golf tournaments.

“Life Rolls On” was his philosophy and in 2001 he teamed up with They Will Surf Again, a foundation that introduced adaptive surfing for the paralysis community. They held a successful event that reached across the world. In 2002, the LRO Foundation became an official non-profit organization and garnered the support of the U.S. Open of Surfing, according to the LRO website.

And the organization extends beyond surfing.

“We have They Will Skate Again, too,” Billauer said.

The focus of LRO is to raise awareness of the paralysis community and to provide “freedom beyond paralysis.”

“Life changing” is how Mike Berns, LRO Operations director, describes the feedback he receives from surfers after they experience They Will Surf Again.

Berns began volunteering with LRO in 2008 and began working as its operations director in 2015. LRO started on the West Coast but now has expanded to the East Coast and Canada. There are 13 They Will Surf Again events per year and three They Will Skate Again. Throughout the years participation has grown.

“So much so that we have to cut off volunteers and surfers [applicants],” Berns said.

Each event hosts about 500 volunteers and 120 surfers, but there is always room for those who are interested to volunteer.

Leum has introduced a lot of local residents to the organizations and has found that after one trip to the ocean, they are forever volunteers.

“We have a large and growing contingent from the local area. It’s been a combination of social media posts and direct follow-up with like-minded people,” he said. “Besides having a family atmosphere the best part is seeing people like Molly and Jessy [Shelton] and Spencer [Duke] grow and step into leadership roles.

Other local volunteers include nearly the entire Goldsworthy family. And there are local surfers who join in as well.

Leum said there are so many memories made over the last 15 years.

“One poignant [memory] was taking an adult male out in the water for the first time since his motorcycle accident. He broke down in tears of happiness. Another is forming relationships with our surfers like Terina [Sprague]. We have attended other events where she participates as an adaptive athlete,” Leum said.

He added he is amazed that when he asks the athlete surfers if they want to stay “in close and ride the whitewater” or “go out deep and possibly get hammered,” they often want to go for the big wave.

“The fact that these people put their lives into the hands of, sometimes, strangers is a true testament of bravery,” he said.

The volunteers line the imaginary path the surfer will take. They guide, and sometime carry, the surfer and the board out to the waves. Then like all surfers they wait for that perfect wave. Then the volunteer behind the board begins to kick and the board, and the surfer athlete, rides the wave. There are volunteers on both sides of the surfboard ready to respond to any athlete who takes a tumble. They surf to the shore, turn around and head back to the next wave.

Berns said the oldest surfer has been in his/her 70s, but there are young surfers too and many of them ride on top of the board with a volunteer.

A lot of the athletes have never surfed before and this makes their time in the ocean even more exciting.

They Will Skate Again is another event focused on people with paralysis who skate at places like the Venice Beach Skatepark.

Berns said that Billauer shared that after his accident he felt trapped by his body. He couldn’t envision himself doing things he used to enjoy. But surfing with the organization he founded has given “him a sense of freedom.” And through LRO that feeling has been shared with hundreds of others.

Anyone who would like to know more or to donate to the LRO organization can visit the website https://liferollson.org.

Ashlynn Goldsworthy contributed to photos.