Mohammad Malek lost both his legs to a land mine in Afghanistan when he was 16. Thanks to Loma Linda Medical Center Malek got to come to California where he saw surfing for the first time.
Malek’s first glimpse of surfing came last year, during a beach outing in Los Angeles. He was on a pier, still in a wheelchair, and he pushed himself close to the rail to get a better look as the surfers below paddled into waves. . . . Timothy Hickman, a director at the hospital, noted Malek’s interest. Hickman also remembered watching a television news feature in which Michael Pless, owner of M & M Surfing School in Seal Beach, taught people with disabilities how to surf. . . .So, last April, a surf lesson was arranged for Malek. . . .That day, everyone on the sand was nervous — even Pless — who had never taught a double amputee how to surf. Communication wasn’t easy. . . Still, if there’s such a thing as a natural surfer, Malek was it. He learned how to paddle and how to read the ocean. He learned to get his board on the face of the wave and, even without legs, when to get up. . . . He shocked spectators that day by riding wave after wave – on his head.
Now that Malek’s treatment is completed he has to go back to Afghanistan. But before he left he wanted to surf one more time. . . on his head.
[Link: OC Register]
