JP bags national colours Needs help to compete
AFTER losing his lower right leg in a brutal hit-and-run motorbike accident six years ago he feared he might never surf again, but Jean-Paul Veaudry will soon be wearing the green and gold Springbok blazer – provided he can raise enough money to travel to California for a competition.
Well-known photographer Veaudry, 38, has been invited to represent South Africa at the inaugural 2015 International Surfing Association (ISA) World Adaptive Surfing championships, which are to be held at the La Jolla Shore surf break in San Diego in September.
The ISA is teaming up with the Challenged Athletes Foundation in a bid to advance the physically challenged sports community and to create a platform for surfers with physical disabilities to display their talents in the world championships.
The international event will consist of four divisions: surfers who ride waves in a seated position, those who kneel or lie down, those who are assisted to catch a wave and surfers, like Veaudry, who stand up to catch waves. “I’m excited. Getting my national colours has always been a dream of mine. I have surfed in two other international surfing competitions since the accident, but this would be the first time I would be representing South Africa, so this means a lot.”
September is set to be a busy month for the passionate surfer, who tries to get his surf fix daily. His wife, Gabriela, is expecting their first child – a daughter – who is due just days before he is to jet off to the US. “I was initially going to turn down the invitation to compete, but my wife said I must go for it.”
Veaudry, who has surfed at Nahoon and Eastern Beach since he was 12, was distressed after his right leg was amputated below the knee after a vehicle ran a stop street and hit him. He was driving his bike home after photographing a wedding in Thomas River in May 2009.
“It was at the intersection just before the North-East Expressway and the car just hit me and left me. They operated to save my leg, but couldn’t and had to amputate it. I thought I would never surf again – that was my main fear.” But five months later he was back in the water and now, thanks to a cutting-edge prosthetic leg designed especially for highperformance surfing, Veaudry takes to the water almost daily. The artificial leg, called the Q-Boy, was designed by prosthetist orthotist Roland Toogood, who custom-made it to suit the photographer. “The accident was a wake-up call to evaluate what’s important in life and made me set personal goals,” said Veaudry. “Since it happened I’ve been surfing more than ever.”
While he is determined to wear the SA blazer, Veaudry needs about R40 000 to make the trip and has appealed for contributions to help him realise his dream. Anyone wanting to assist can contact him via his Facebook page. –barbarah@dispatch.co.za