A life impacted

Dear Life,

It is amazing to watch when a life (or several for that matter) are impacted because of another person.

17 years ago there was a  17 year old boy.
He had a bright future ahead.
He was an up and coming young surfer.
Until the day his future was jeopardized when he was injured surfing at Zuma beach.
He suffered a spinal cord injury that left him a paraplegic.
The doctors told him he would never surf again.

Never say never.

Eventually he did start surfing again.
And then he created an organization to help others surf too.

His name is Jesse Billauer.

 Kumaka Jensen, Jesse Billauer, Katie Hull

As founder of Life Rolls On Foundation, Jesse now serves as 

the organization's Director of National Outreach. "LRO is an 

avenue to hope, independence, freedom, happiness, 

inspiration, and teamwork," he explains. "It is about bringing

people together and changing lives one day, one program,

and one person at a time.

Pic courtesy of Diane Edmonds, yourwavepics.com

This Saturday we saw so many smiles and so many miracles. 

So many of our friends surfed, some for the first time.

Pic courtesy of Diane Edmonds, yourwavepics.com

A beautiful smile from our dear friend Katie, after catching the first waves of the day.

Pic courtesy of Diane Edmonds, yourwavepics.com

Lourdes, catching a fun wave with a wonderful smile on her 

face.

Pic courtesy of Diane Edmonds, yourwavepics.com

Brock, smiling from ear to ear.

Pic courtesy of Diane Edmonds, yourwavepics.com

Carlos is getting his shred on.

Pic courtesy of Diane Edmonds, yourwavepics.com

First time surfing made Misty smile like an angel.

When it was Kumaka's turn, I watched from the shore as Kumaka was carried into the ocean.

Tears streamed from my eyes as I watched a team of twenty, all in red, waiting to catch him if he fell.

I knew behind me was our whole family, there to cheer him on.

I smiled... thinking about Kumaka's daddy, and two of his brothers who were there in that same ocean, helping him do what he "shouldn't" be able to do. 

As they paddled with him, farther and farther, I could barely see him.

I wondered what he was thinking.  

I wondered if he was scared.

And then all of a sudden I see them take off.....and it sounded like the whole beach let off a cheer as Cory stood up and then lifted Kumaka up in the air and they caught a wave just like that.

Pic courtesy of Diane Edmonds, yourwavepics.com

AMAZING.

Arms were in the air, tears were flowing, and all you could hear was "Yeah...go Kumaka"

Pic courtesy of Presley Photography

Wave after wave he surfed, until the last one...when his daddy got to surf with his boy for the very first time.

Pic courtesy of Diane Edmonds, yourwavepics.com

An amazing moment for Stuart...and a great day for a six year old boy.

And today, he told his daddy, 

"Thank you for being there for me daddy."

This made me reflect on the ripple effect from one person.

One person was injured...and made the choice to 

LIVE LIFE.

He shared his passion with others wanting to 

LIVE LIFE after a spinal cord injury.

That passion has created this movement called 

Life Rolls On.

All because this young man never gave up. 

Because he knew that Life Rolls On. 

Spina Bifida Awareness Day 8 -Katie's Story

Dear Life,

My next feature is a sweet little girl that I adore.  I met her adorable mom a couple of years ago after hearing about her blog.  I stalked her until she became my friend.  I really look up to her, Sarah works so hard to make sure Katie does everything...even when it's hard.  She makes it look easy...even when it's not.  Katie is such a sweet, adorable little girl.  Kumaka loves her.  This family has been incredibly supportive of our journey...and Sarah has been so supportive as me as a mother...and as a woman.  I am blessed to have this family in my life. 

 

"Katie is nine years old.  

My husband and I wanted to celebrate our Valentines day 

at our 20 week ultrasound finding out if we were having a 

boy or a girl.  We had plans to have dinner afterwards to 

celebrate the news that our first born would be a daughter! 

We started to notice the tech taking a long time on the 

ultrasound, was acting strange, and not answering any

of my questions.  It left us unsettled, but made sense when

I got a phone call the next day from our OB asking us to 

come in for further testing.  When we finally got another 

appointment, we heard all sorts of things; ranging from 

Down Syndrome to our baby might die at birth.  Finally we

had the level 2 ultrasound and the radiologist told us our 

baby would be born with Spina Bifida.  It was almost a 

relief after all the things they had told us originally.

Almost.  I felt emotions from extreme lows (feeling like I 

was just kicked in the stomach) to the most overwhelming 

feelings of peace and comfort.  However, at one point 

during the appointment, I asked to be excused and went 

into the restroom where I just stood there alone, trying

to take it all in.  I had to take a moment and get in control

of the situation because the doctors were pressuring me to 

get an amniocentesis and they wanted us to fly to 

Sacramento for a new study/surgery; not to mention the 

fact that they uttered the dreaded "A" word.  I needed to 

gather my thoughts and say a prayer and let the Lord 

guide me.  

First off, I knew I was going to keep my baby, no

matter what so I shot that "A" word option down real fast.  

Second, I was going to do the amnio because I felt 

pressure to, but after talking it over with Bryant, we both 

felt like there was no need to do that, so we declined that 

test as well.  

Then the 

Sacramento option

 just did not feel

right at all.  So we

 went with how we

 were feeling and 

passed on that too. 

 When we got home

 on that rainy day,

we sat in our 

apartment and just took it in and did a 

paradigm shift...this would be our new life.  We would be 

parents to a special needs baby.

Looking back now, I

always say I wish I

could have just seen a 

quick snapshot of 

our life today!  I 

would have enjoyed 

my pregnancy more 

and would have 

welcomed this new 

life with open arms and pushed those fears away.

How do you put into 

words this challenging, 

beautiful, hard,   

miraculous, tearful, 

joyful, amazing 

experience?

The one thing that I never

thought I would see Katie enjoy 

is the beach.  

That is what got me 

the most.  How 

would we do the 

beach?  Well, we do 

it, and we do it well.

This past summer, 

we went to the beach

almost daily!  We 

learned to adapt and

that is how we do 

lots of fun things...

the adaptive way!

Recently I have seen 

my daughter ski,

race in a 5K, play 

wheelchair 

basketball, 

be on a TV show,

surf with Life Rolls 

On, win Miss 

Wheelchair of 

California,

get perfect scores on 

tests at school, and I have seen her smile and laugh EVERY 

SINGLE DAY...and that above all is the most important 

thing.  She is happy and that is all I could have ever asked 

or prayed for.  She is happy. 

What I want to say to future parents: 

Welcome to this beautiful life.  A life not all

get to experience.  A life where patience is

tested but where miracles are witnessed and 

strength is gained.  Welcome!"