Week 4 Mini pilot study
Written by Participant K
Who would have thought that in the middle of October, in the wind and rain, four people with chronic conditions would be learning to surf in the Welsh sea! But that is exactly what happened in our fourth week of being part of Muddy Care.
This was the third week of a four week programme on learning to surf. We travelled back down to Caswell Bay on the Gower where we were met by Surfability, a surfing company who teaches people to surf by adapting themselves to meet the clients conditions and needs.
We started off by telling each other how we were feeling that day and what goals we wanted to achieve while surfing, for me it was improving on standing up while surfing, which I'm happy to say I achieved.
The surfability team provided us with wetsuits, boots and the surfboard and any additional equipment we needed, such as helmets, inflatable vests or heated vests to wear under out wetsuits. Once we were all kitted up, we walked down to the sea or was wheeled down in my case. We were paired up with our own instructor and off we went! Straight into the sea, no hesitation or turning back, we were all just so happy and determined to give it a go, despite the wind and rain!
The temperature of the sea isn't actually too cold as it is around September-October that the sea is at its warmest. However the wind did add a bit of a chill factor to it, but it also meant there were some decent sized waves for us to surf!
Each of us stayed in the sea for as long as we wanted to, until we had reached our limit and once we were all out and changed, back into our warm clothes, we had a de-brief in the cafe. We had all achieved our goals and all of us were able to stand up and surf. We also all noticed an improvement in our mental health after having surfed.
The sense of achievement and accomplishment of having been surfing is a great feeling, even though we all have different conditions and different needs, being part of Muddy Care is allowing us to do things we wouldn't normally be able to or have the opportunity to do. No one judges you…if you need a wheelchair you can use it, if you need a helmet you can take one. We all have different needs but the Surfability team does their best to meet them and being part of a group, we give confidence and support to each other which encourages us to give things a try.
Next week is the last week of surfing, I'm sure everyone will meet their goals and enjoy themselves, as we have done the past three weeks. We have all got the surfing bug so it won't necessarily be our last time surfing!