CNN Hero Dana Cummings Teaches the Disabled to Surf

People who surf will tell you that there is something immensely freeing and satisfying in riding a wave and feeling the power of the ocean. After losing a leg in a car accident, Dana Cummings discovered that freedom and made it his mission to share it with other disabled people.

AmpSurf, short for the Association of Amputee Surfers, was founded by Dana and is a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities learn to surf. Many of them can’t imagine that they’d be able to get on a surfboard, and nearly all of them are nervous, but they all end up surfing.

Dana has said that he just wants everyone to be able to feel the rehabilitative power of surfing and the ocean, and this video shows that he is making a difference.

Congratulations to you Dana, and thank you for improving the lives of so many people.

Journey Forward – Changing Lives One at a Time

A few weeks ago we discovered and posted about a nonprofit started with the mission of helping to improve the lives of those with disabilities. Founded by Dan Cummings after he regained the ability to walk again through intense exercise, Journey Forward aims to help those with spinal cord injuries recover function and improve the quality of their lives. After reading about the program on their web site, we wanted to know more and recently had the privilege of interviewing Journey Forward and their founder Dan. Their words were a dose of inspiration, and reinforced our belief in the importance of helping others achieve their goals. Read on to hear about how Journey Forward is making a difference and changing lives one at a time.

Read more

Healing Through Exercise

We’re always happy to find new nonprofits focusing on helping those with spinal cord injuries. Recently, we heard about Journey Forward, whose mission is to better the lives of those with spinal cord injuries through exercise. Journey Forward’s program is similar to physical therapy regimens, but last much longer, because typically those with spinal cords injuries need long periods of time to develop muscle they have lost and see benefits from therapy.

Just as persons without physical impairments can benefit from regular exercise, persons with disabilities can improve their health through regular exercise as well. Unfortunately for those with SCI, regular exercise can be very difficult, so a program like that provided by Journey Forward can have a large impact on people’s lives.

As a fairly new nonprofit Journey Forward is still working to raise awareness of what they do. Even so, they have helped many people improve their lives, and it was inspiring to hear about some of the positive experiences of people who have worked with Journey Forward. Hopefully, we will see more programs like this all across the U.S.