Meet Madi.
Meet 8-year-old Madison Eddy, who has just taken her first steps after taking part in a surf therapy course with UK charity The Wave Project.
Madison had never walked before unaided, and her adoptive parents Margaret and Ted Eddy are sure it happened because of her increased confidence after surfing.
“It was like a miracle,” said Margaret Eddy. “If you had said to me a year ago that Madi would be on a surf board in the sea, I would have said go fly a kite. But after going surfing with the Wave Project, she became so much more confident – and just a week after her course had finished she started walking for the first time!”
Madison, from Redruth, in Cornwall in the UK, was severely disabled from birth with a bleed on her brain, cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Born three months premature, she could not breathe on her own, and could only be fed through a tube. Doctors had to perform an emergency tracheotomy to enable her to breathe, and she required further surgery later to repair her trachea.
Madison spent her first 18 months in hospital, before being fostered and later adopted by Ted and Margaret Eddy. She was so disabled that doctors insisted on the couple doing 85 hours of medical training each before they would release little Madi from hospital.
Madison spent the next eight years in a wheelchair, and was unable to walk unaided, even with the help of a special walking stick.
But the Eddys were determined that she would live as full a life as possible. They enrolled her in mainstream school and set about looking for activities she could take part in, which led them to the Wave Project, a surfing charity for vulnerable children facing exceptional disadvantage.
The organization aims to improve children’s confidence by helping them learn to surf with the aid of volunteer “surf mentors.” However, the couple were extremely apprehensive at first about letting Madi go in this sea.
“At first I was very apprehensive about Madi being in the sea, especially as she couldn’t walk,” Margaret remembered. “It was a big decision for us. We had to put our trust in the Wave Project, and I kept thinking ‘What happens if a wave comes over her?'”
The volunteers were amazing.
However, in June, they went ahead and enrolled Madi on to a six-week surfing course at Porthmeor Beach in St Ives, Cornwall with nine other children. The course was delivered by The Wave Project in partnership with St Ives Surf School.
Margaret admitted that they were terrified during her first lesson: “On the first lesson, it was raining and cold and we thought Madi would never get through it. She had never worn a wetsuit before and couldn’t understand why she had to put one on – she kept saying ‘Why, why?'”
The volunteers, however, were amazing. Their experience in dealing with similar situations was obvious. “I’ve got to admit the volunteers who worked with Madi were fantastic,” her mother said. “It was clear that everybody loved being there with the children. Each child was treated with respect. They allowed each child to take it at their own pace. There was no rushing.”
Despite the weather, Madison went into the sea in a specially adapted beach wheelchair, supported by three volunteers. And she loved it.
“By the second week she was pointing to the surf boards. She wanted to do the same as everybody else. So they put her on a board and went on with her,” said Margaret. And amazingly, after six weeks, Madi stood up on the board by herself. “At one point she actually fell into the water and I was absolutely beside myself,” remembered Margaret. “But they picked her up just as soon as she had gone under. She was absolutely beaming.”
Then, less than a week after Madison’s surf course was over, she amazed her parents by taking her first steps unaided. At first, then were tentative–just three or four stumbling steps, but as the days went on, she quickly gained confidence.
Soon after, Madi was on the playground with her teaching assistant. As usual, they were holding hands. Madi wanted to go somewhere, which before was only possible with help. But the TA was talking to another student, and told Madi to hold on. Suddenly, Madi let go of her hand–and walked for eight full steps unassisted.
The TA quickly grabbed her, but that was it. Madi wanted to show off. Later in school, she wanted to show everyone what she could do. And she just kept walking further. That night, in front of a cheering audience at her swimming lesson, she walked 10 steps by herself. Her parents believe that the change in Madison came about because of her increased confidence from going surfing with The Wave Project.
“The Wave Project gave her that confidence,” her father explained. “It was amazing to see. On sports day, Madi was able to do the 100m – walking obviously, and all the other parents were amazed. They were cheering and saying, ‘Look at Madi!’ It was a wonderful thing to hear.”
Madison has now gone on to join the Wave Project’s weekly surf club and plans to go surfing regularly.
Madi, full on!
