Stephen Lightbown is a poet, writer, spoken word artist, wheelchair user and surfer! Even though Stephen is paralyzed following a sledging accident in 1996. But this hasn’t stopped him from doing plenty. Stephen’s next challenge is the Adaptive Surf Champs at The Wave in Bristol. And with eyes fixed firmly on the challenge we asked Stephen to give us more insight.
A bit of history.
In January 1996 I became a wheelchair user after an accident whilst sledging in the snow. I was 16 at the time and after six months of rehab in a spinal unit I left hospital paralysed from the waist down and wondering how to rebuild my life. I was an extremely active teenager, I walked everywhere, loved my mountain bike, swam and played football whenever I could. I wasn’t particularly good at any of those activities but it didn’t matter as I was outside and moving.
After the accident though those activities couldn’t have been further from my mind, not when I had to figure out how to get up the step into the front of our house or brush my hair when all the mirrors were set too high. Over time though I built my confidence back up and over the past twenty-six years I’ve embraced the outdoors again and embraced the water.
Surfing = happy!
The water is my happy place, it’s where I feel most free. It’s the one place I can move without my wheelchair whether that is swimming or using any form of paddle. Some people have a fear of not being able to touch the bottom of wherever they are swimming but for me that doesn’t matter, I can’t feel the bottom of a bath so a swimming pool, lake or the sea is no different. I could be in an inch or 100ft of water and it would feel the same. It’s liberating.
I’ve tried most water sports, kayaking, sailing, water skiing. I have my own inflatable SUP board which I sit on cross legged, with a detachable seat and use a kayak paddle. But one sport I always thought was out of reach was surfing. I just didn’t know how that would be possible if I couldn’t stand on a board. And what would be the point, you have to stand to surf. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
In 2020 I saw an article in The Guardian about the adaptive surf champs at The Wave in Bristol. Despite living in the city, I didn’t know The Wave existed and I certainly didn’t know about adaptive surfing. But having seen the photos and reading about Bruno Hansen, the adaptive surfer who like me is paralysed and surfs prone I knew I had to give it a try.
The Wave, Bristol.
The Wave is an incredible place. They have gone out of their way to make everything as accessible as possible. They just want anyone to be able to surf and the staff and coaches are incredible. I’ll never forget my first surf experience. I had what is known as a pusher and a catcher helping me. The pusher takes you out into the water and holds you in position until they can set you off on to a wave and then the catcher waits for you to keep you with your board once you’ve rode the wave or wiped out.
Honestly, every photo I have from that session I am just beaming. Whether I’m on the board or in the water the one thing you can see is my smile. I just didn’t think at 41 this would be a sport that would be open to me. But it is and I’ve been made to feel so welcome. I’ve been back to The Wave so many times and also down to Croyde to surf in the sea with the amazing Wave Project. And now I want more. My aim this year is to get some coaching and I have a pipedream to enter this year’s Surfing England adaptive surf champs at The Wave.
One of the barriers has been the kit. Putting a wetsuit on when paralysed and sat in a wheelchair is not easy. But I’ve had a wetsuit custom made with extra neoprene on the legs to help my lower half float and with zips from knee to ankle to make putting it on easier. I struggle to retain heat in my body so when I surf again in March I’m looking forward to trying out my new gloves, boots and hooded rash vest which I’ve just bought from North Coast Wetsuits and can’t wait to try. And I’m looking at getting my own board made with some handles on the rails to help with turning and a concave section at the rear to help keep my legs in place.
This won’t be an easy journey, I’m still trying to figure out how to stay on the board, but I know it will be fun and whatever happens I’ll still be smiling.
You can learn more about Stephen here – https://www.stephenlightbown.com/
For more articles like this check out NCW’s blog here.