Helping Ensure They Will Surf Again
Imagine being told that you would never walk again or be able to persue your favorite hobby. The Life Rolls on Foundation gives a second chance to those who were told exactly that.
September 30, 2001 was a dream come true for Cape May’s surfers. Many parked their cars, as they often do, along Beach Avenue and with nothing more than a wrapped towel or an open car door for privacy, quickly suited up and took to the surf. Younger surfers already in their wetsuits rode their bikes through town, one hand clutching the handlebar, the other holding tightly to the surfboard under their arm. It wasn’t a surfing contest or planned event that drew them to the ocean that day, but a report of “hurricane swells,” significantly high waves produced by extreme weather conditions many miles at sea. Among the enthusiastic surfers that day at Cape May’s Poverty Beach was 24-year-old Chad DeSatnick.
The day that began as a surfer’s dream would become a horrific, life-altering day for Chad. While surfing his fourth wave, which, he explains, was too close to the beach, an unexpected swell lifted Chad and dropped him head first into only four inches of water.
X-rays showed the impact had fractured his cervical vertebrae at the C6 and C7 level. Chad recalls what one of the two neurosurgeons at Atlanticare Trauma Center in Atlantic City said right before the 11 ½ hour surgery began. “Dr. [Douglas] Hershkowitz told me there was a chance I may never walk again and he told me I would never surf again.” Dr. Fernando DelaSotta was the other neurosurgeon.
After the operation, Chad undertook extensive rehabilitation until he regained what he refers to as, “a full 100% of what I was before the accident.”
“During my period of physical therapy,” Chad recalls, “my friend Steve Coon stopped by with an ad for a golf tournament in Malibu that benefitted spinal cord injury victims though an organization called Life Rolls On which was founded by surfer Jesse Billauer, who was also injured in a surfing accident.” What appealed to Chad most was the organization’s signature event “They Will Surf Again,” a surfing program for adapted athletes. Never one to sit idle, Chad enrolled in the Life Rolls On golf tournament and became active in the organization.
Three years later, Chad decided to host a “They Will Surf Again” event in Wildwood Crest and now holds the title as the Life Rolls On Northeast Events Coordinator.
Chad’s ideal event would be hosting “They Will Surf Again” in Cape May, but due to the sharp slope of Cape May’s beach, a feature common with many beaches that have undergone beach replenishment, Wildwood Crest, with its gentle-sloping beach break, was chosen as the safer location. With over 300 volunteers, as many as 40 spinal cord injury victims are taken into the ocean to pursue their love of surfing. Disc jockeys, catering services and photographers who provide participants with commemorative photos of their day are among the many volunteers. “It’s an inspiring day,” Chad said.
“They Will Surf Again” is a fee-free event for all participants, relying solely on in-kind donations and event sponsorships to sustain the event in its many locations.
“‘They Will Surf Again’ obviously is very close to my heart,” Chad said. “It’s inspiring to know that there is this opportunity for other spinal cord injury victims. It’s a way for me to reconnect with the spinal cord injury community. There are many struggles that able-bodied people don’t even have thoughts of. The volunteers also experience so much joy from the event. It’s an awesome day.”
A volunteer who has been involved with Chad from the start of his hosting the event is his friend John King. John, 38, teaches science at Middle Township High School and is a licensed real estate agent with DeSatnick Real Estate in Cape May. John’s enthusiasm for the event and understanding of the struggles spinal cord injury victims face began during Chad’s rehabilitation period “When Chad got hurt it brought an awareness to me that it could all be gone in an instant,” John said. “ ‘They Will Surf Again’ helps you realize the important things in life. Life doesn’t end after a spinal cord injury. To see the faces of the participants when they catch a wave, after being confined to a wheelchair for so long, is life-changing for both the participant and volunteers.”
Participating in this year’s “They Will Surf Again” with his modified Channel Islands surf board will be Jay, a 41-year old retired professor from Norfolk State University. After suffering a broken neck in 1989, Jay believed his ability to surf had ended until he discovered Life Rolls On. “Life Rolls On and its volunteers gave that [surfing] back to me,” Jay said, “Chad does an amazing job organizing the event. It restores my faith in humanity to know that people who are that kind and generous exist.” Jay has attended nearly every Life Rolls On event since 2008 and recalls his reintroduction to a life of surfing. “I still remember my first time and the rush of joy and limitless potential I experienced,” Jay said, “Just pure stoke.”
Despite Chad’s injury and long recovery, he maintains an understanding of surfers who race to the waves during similar, extreme weather conditions that nearly cost him his ability to surf. “In general, surfers are very aware of the conditions at the local surf breaks,” Chad said, “If the surfer is comfortable enough to be out there and they’re not causing risk to others, they’ll be out there. They say that only a surfer knows the feeling. There are guys who chase waves around the world. I’ve had the fortune to travel to surf in Central America, Hawaii and Fiji. It’s a lifestyle. I’ve had the opportunity to prove a neurosurgeon incorrect, but now I weigh my risk and possibility much more than I did prior to what I did before my injury.”
As for the two neurosurgeons who informed Chad he would never surf again, Chad maintains contact with them and refers to them as his “miracle workers.” Dr. DelaSotta, who operated on Chad for nearly 12 hours, has recently committed to sitting on the board of a new foundation Chad is founding for local victims of spinal cord injury.
To learn about participating or volunteering in the June 15, 2014 “They Will Surf Again” event in Wildwood Crest visit liferollson.org/twsa [link no longer valid].
