Finding Therapy in the Ocean
Children of all ages gear up and look forward to the annual THERAsurf event in Malibu California—a day full of laughter, limit pushing and ocean therapy.
According to Surfline.com, “in the late-16th Century, English doctors started prescribing cold water to help jumpstart the body, or shock it out of melancholy, ‘hysteria,’ and other maladies of the time. Cold water turned into cold seawater, and by mid-18th Century, European docs were prescribing beach days and ingesting pints of saltwater. Seaside spas and resorts began to pop up and by 1944 The Journal of the American Medical Association promoted the trilogy of sea, sun and air for a range of illnesses.”
Today, there is a vast array of different organizations and nonprofits working toward helping those with autism, special needs and PTSD combat their illnesses and find therapy via surfing. One of those organizations is the nonprofit based out of Malibu known as THERAsurf. THERAsurf offers children and adults with special needs or disability an opportunity to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of the ocean and surfing.
The nonprofit organization was founded by Jimmy Gamboa and his wife Kim. Before meeting Jimmy, Kim was a single mom whose son James was diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome, a neuro-genetic disorder that causes severe intellectual and developmental disabilities. One day Kim took her son to the beach and that’s where they met Jimmy. Jimmy would take Kim’s son out surfing and noticed the stimulation had a positive therapeutic effect on James. That’s when THERAsurf was conceived. Jimmy began rounding up other local surfers and lined up local sponsors to help with costs such as Duke’s Restaurant in Malibu. Jimmy married Kim and the two of them grew THERAsurf into a local nonprofit hero. The surf community easily granted THERAsurf the local white hat badge of honor.
“The happiness at their accomplishment is palpable. Their parents are in tears. For me, to see the surfing community connect with the special needs community is very special,” says Kim.
THERAsurf lines up about eight event dates per summer. The organization brings supplies like life vests, surfboards, rash guards and a surf instructor buddy to ride the waves with at Surfrider beach.
“THERAsurf’s instructors are highly vetted,” says Kevin McCarthy, VP of the organization. “We don’t just let any guy who can surf take the kids out,”
There’s a strong focus on safety and the kid’s personal experience. The instructors take time to properly spend time with their surf buddy child before taking them out in the water. Bonding time is crucial for the kids—it takes a bit of time for the children to get used to the sensory changes such as the tide, the speed of surfing and the feeling of riding the board. Some kids only feel comfortable on the board lying flat on their stomach, while others learn to stand while riding tandem with their surf instructor.
“Some kids will get really scared and have an episode out in the water or even on the beach and so it’s very important that our instructors know how to properly handle a situation like that,” says McCarthy.
Instructors range from firefighters to police officers to highly vetted local surfers. All are required to be CPR-certified and have an exceptional ability for childcare and crisis management.
One instructor, longtime surfer and Redondo Beach resident JR Costello, says that “occasionally we’ll see a kid who is having an episode, which is just normal for the parents and their condition, but for the most part the kids are so stoked to get out in the water and surf. It’s an epic day for them, some kids look forward to the events all year long.”
The children who participate in THERAsurf not only gain therapy but often find friendship as well.
McCarthy, who now runs the majority of the nonprofit after Jimmy and his wife left to pursue their construction company, says, “It’s very special in that we build relationships with these kids. They begin to look towards their instructors as friends and before you know it they ‘can’t wait to go surf with their friend Kevin.’”
THERAsurf runs its events/camps based out of Malibu, California but have traveled to other areas in past years such as Jamaica, Maui and Sayulita, Mexico. They hope to expand at a measurable and appropriate rate and would love to make it to Biarritz, France one day for an event.
THERAsurf benefits so many people, says McCarthy. It’s a day full of fun and smiles for the kids, extremely rewarding for myself and the other volunteers and a safe place for the parents of these children with disabilities.”
The parents see the achievement their kid feels after a day of surfing, a smile from ear-to-ear and a community of people coming together to support their loved one. The volunteers see the smiles they help put on the children’s faces and gain an intangible and rewarding experiential day. The kids feel a sense of accomplishment, freedom, happiness and therapeutic benefits from a day spent surfing with new and old friends. THERAsurf proves itself to be anything but just another day at the beach.
