Amputee riding high
Well-known local photographer and surfer Jean Paul Veaudry has been invited to surf in the inaugural ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championships in San Diego, California, in September.
Completing the championships means Veaudry will earn himself national colours for surfing, but he requires R45000 to compete.
Veaudry said he has spent his whole life in the water, but his surfing achievements only began to stream in after he had part of his right leg amputated.
In May 2009, Veaudry was knocked off his motorbike in a hit-and-run accident on his way back from a photo shoot.
“I asked the surgeon before he operated if I would ever be able to surf again.
“He said yes, without knowing the answer,” Veaudry said.
But five months after the lower part of his right leg was amputated, Veaudry was already heading for the swells.
Soon after his accident, Veaudry looked up the Amp Surf Society, an American NPO (non-profit organisation) established to promote, inspire, educate and rehabilitate adaptive surfers, many of whom are war veterans.
In May 2010, the Amp team invited him to join them in California to help other physically challenged people learn to surf.
It was there that he met a group of university students who wanted to create a specialised surfing prosthesis for him.
“They designed the first surfing prosthesis, donating me a R100000 leg,” said Veaudry, who went on to win the West Coast Championships for physically challenged athletes in the US with his new prosthesis.
“The accident pushed me to a whole new level and helped me to set goals.
“I became motivated to achieve more than I ever wanted,” Veaudry said.
Since then, Veaudry has competed in a number of local contests, but financial and medical constraints have held him back from going further.
After being invited to attend the ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship, the first event of its kind, Veaudry was initially not keen to participate because his wife is pregnant and her due date is around the same time.
“But my wife has pushed me to still go, knowing it is my lifetime dream,” Veaudry said.
“I am proud to be a Springbok [SA national team member], as this is every sportsman’s dream.
“The next step is to get surfing into the Olympics and go for that,” Veaudry said.
He will not accept donations for his cause, but rather urges the public to involve themselves in his fundraising initiatives.
Veaudry will be selling raffle tickets and landscape photographs for the cause, a great Father’s Day gift option.
The public can buy these or sponsor prizes for the raffle.
Veaudry will be giving 10% of the funds raised to the Challenged Athletes Foundation to help others compete in such events.
If you would like to get involved, contact JP by visiting his studio, Jean Paul Photography, at 112B Devereux Avenue or at jp@jeanpaulphoto.com or via his Facebook page.
BY SARAH KINGON