Making Waves Makes Dream Come True

Bobby DuCharme was a talented surfer, until a terrible accident 11 years ago

Bobby DuCharme was a talented amateur surfer with dreams of going pro.

That was 11 years ago.

His dream was shattered while surfing at Coronado Island. DuCharme fell off his board and hit his head on the sand. He couldn’t move his arms or legs. He was paralyzed.

Now he's riding the waves again. But he's not in the water.

After his friends saw other people on YouTube tarp surfing, they thought it would be a perfect way for DuCharme to experience the thrill of surfing that he missed so much.

Tarp surfing is a new phenomenon that allows people to use a tarp to simulate riding through the curl of a wave.

"It brings me back to the good times when I used to surf," said DuCharme, who wore a smile on his face as he and his friends repeatedly went through the barrel of the tarp wave.

His friend asked as if he preferred the left or the right.

"I like the left, I'm goofy foot," he replied.

"He can't do what he loves and for us to be able to give this to him is a really cool thing," said his friend Jesse Schluntz.

DuCharme now spends his time editing surf movies for his production company Paralyzed Productions. He also counsels people who become paralyzed, providing advice and inspiration.

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