A wheelchair tracks down the yellow sand of Newquay’s Great Western Beach, steered towards the Atlantic Ocean by a team clad in wetsuits. At the water’s edge, they pause, transferring 12-year-old Brody Walters from the security of his seat to a bright yellow surfboard, before wading out into the gentle, waist-high waves.
“I never thought we would see Brody on a surfboard because he can’t even sit up unaided,” says his mother Kelly, watching from the shoreline. “After he’s been in the water we notice a huge difference. He absolutely loves it – the smile says it all.”
Born with quadriplegic cerebral palsy and dystonia – a term for unpredictable muscle movements – Brody has experienced the joys of the beach this summer with Coastal Crusaders, a Cornish not-for-profit organisation.
Established to equip people with disabilities and special educational needs with aquatic skills, more than 100 participants have surfed, paddle boarded, lifeguarded and inhaled the sea air since it was founded in 2019.
Coastal Crusaders runs like a regular surf school, offering private and group lessons to anyone wanting to sharpen their skills. But it also offers free surf courses to those who might otherwise struggle to afford them, partnering with schools mostly in the mid-Cornwall area. Today’s group, however, has been referred by the council and charities, who recognise that surfing can act as a form of therapy for disabled people.
The ocean – to many a symbol of freedom – can still be an exclusionary place for families such as the Walters. Barriers to the beach are logistical and financial, as access hinges on a £3,000 beach wheelchair, adapted changing rooms, a suitable ramp and a space to park the family’s modified vehicle. There are also psychological hurdles, as many parents of disabled people feel ill-equipped or less confident when introducing their children to the water – these are the obstacles Coastal Crusaders wants to help overcome.
Today, calm conditions have turned the beach into a beginners’ playground, and instructors are helping those on Coastal Crusaders’ Surf 2 Success course join the other newbies in the water, whooping and high-fiving as they practise their pop-ups.
Parents with vulnerable children might be apprehensive about watching their loved ones brave it in the waves – Kelly Walters’ first thought was “please don’t drown my child” – but participants are in confident hands. Coastal Crusaders’ founder and lead instructor is local surfer Tom Butler, who earned his stripes chasing big waves around the world.
After years of doors opening for Butler in the international surf community, he was pulled by a “duty to give back” to people from his home in Cornwall. “It can be a bit of a selfish pursuit, just chasing after your own dream with the blinkers on,” he says. “I wanted to make others aware of the ocean and the joys and risks it can bring.”
The project comes at a critical time. Earlier this year the government published its first guidelines on physical activity for disabled children and young people. Aside from stronger muscles and improved motor strength, the report found that two to three hours of aerobic exercise a week could help disabled people with confidence, concentration and meeting new people.
However, a 2020 report from UK charity Activity Alliance found only four in 10 disabled people feel they can be as active as they want. Reasons such as worrying about getting hurt, how they look and not knowing what to do stand in the way of many disabled people from being active.
Coastal Crusaders’ approach is to instil confidence through a programme of “ocean literacy”, with crash courses on decoding coloured flags and judging tides and winds. But the key to encouraging participants with disabilities, Butler says, is relatability. “They need to see someone with similar challenges who can be a role model.”
Those role models come in the shape of two Coastal Crusaders with autism who have graduated from students to surf instructors. After training for a year, Aiden Coxhead and Louis Sutton passed a level one International Surf Association qualification, in what Butler says is a world first for autistic candidates.
Coxhead, who also has cystic fibrosis, has become a regular fixture on Newquay’s beaches over the summer as a volunteer lifeguard, donning the red and yellow uniform and greeting fellow surfers with the occasional nod or the universal surfer’s salute, the shaka.
For the 22-year-old, surfing isn’t just about the exhilaration and enjoyment of catching a wave, but about being part of the culture. “The surf community can be quite closed off for certain people. I know most of the surfers now, because this is a community where everyone knows everyone. It’s a friendly and happy community,” he says.
His mother Vicky says Aiden was always “a water baby”, and that being in the sea has eased everything, from her son’s cystic fibrosis to stress levels. “He still has massive anxieties about so many things in the real world, but as soon as he steps into the water they’re all gone, which is why it’s so liberating,” she says.
Some believe there is a link between autism and an affinity with water. According to Autism Speaks, a US research organisation, autistic people often show “stronger sensory-seeking behaviour” than those without the condition – so it follows that the crashing, bracing brininess of the ocean could provide a powerful stimulus.
For Hannah Rudlin-Jones, 18, a Coastal Crusader student with autism, getting in the water takes some coaxing. “I just want to feel like I’m not alone. But once I get in, I know I should be all right,” she says. And she is – emerging a short while later, describing the way she feels post-surf as somewhere between “a character in an action movie” and “a french fry”.
So far, Coastal Crusaders’ questionnaires have revealed that people feel empowered after spending time in the ocean – with participants saying they feel fitter or happier. But it’s likely that seeing more people of all abilities in the water will have a ripple effect over time.
When Rudlin-Jones thinks about Brody leaving behind his wheelchair for the waves, she says: “I’m proud of him. Everyone can do it if they just go for it.”
