Santos (Brazil) (AFP)

"For me, it's a certainty, surfing heals!"

Paralyzed cerebral palsy, the Brazilian Malu Mendes, world parasurf champion, is in seventh heaven when she slides on the waves of the beach of Santos, near Sao Paulo.

"I feel free, it's a feeling of inexplicable pleasure," the 28-year-old young woman with long light brown hair told AFP.

When she comes out of the water, her smile is radiant, her joie de vivre contagious.

However, from an early age, Malu heard doctors tell her repeatedly that she would have mobility problems until the end of her life.

But the specialists who follow it are today amazed by its evolution.

In March 2020, she was crowned Parasurf World Champion at Jolla Beach Square, near San Diego, California.

This school, funded in part by public subsidies, has welcomed 280 disabled people free of charge since its creation, both children and adults.

Among them, autistic, Down's syndrome, amputees or victims of cerebrovascular accidents.

For some, surfing is a complement to treatment.

For others, it is the only therapy.

- Adapted boards -

"Surfing has incredible power. You can't have health without being happy. Creating happiness is our raison d'être", says the founder of the Adapted Surf School, Francisco "Cisco" Araña, 64 years old, Brazilian surfing legend.

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A wave tamer since 1968, he opened his first school in 1991 and soon realized that some disabled students had more difficulty using conventional boards.

He then began to create new ones: some emit sounds for the blind or visually impaired, others are equipped with special Velcro closures for paraplegics.

The demand increased so much that Cisco decided to create a special adapted surf school.

"Thanks to surfing, we see a much greater evolution than with other therapies, I believe it is thanks to contact with nature," said Adriana de Souza, whose austist son Joao Vitor, 13, surfs. since seven years.

The beginnings were not easy.

Her son was afraid of getting his head wet and had difficulty socializing.

But today, he is very happy on his board and much more talkative.

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"I love it, it's great," exclaims this young teenager who was given occupational therapy by doctors so that he could spend more time on the beach surfing.

- "We can overcome anything" -

Nearby, Hamilton Fernandes, 63, also comes out of the salt water.

Four years ago, he suffered a stroke which partially paralyzed the right side of his body, depriving him of surfing, his great passion for the past fifty years.

But when Hamilton found Cisco, with whom he had surfed many times in the past, the latter offered to get back to it, on a suitable board.

Since then, he assures that his mobility has improved "to 90%".

"I was in the hospital, now I'm here, it's a new chance."

Miguel Almeida, a 23-year-old athletic-bodied young man, ventures further than Joao Vitor and Hamilton.

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At the age of eight months, he developed toxoplasmosis and lost 5% of vision in his left eye, 10% in his right.

But since he was five, Miguel has faced the ocean without even seeing it, encouraged by his cousin, professional surfer Deivid Silva.

"I have a great perception of things. My hearing is much more sensitive and I can feel the wave forming", describes the young surfer, who dreams of participating in the world championship of parasurf in December, in California.

"A lot of people think that people with disabilities are no good, but here we show that we can overcome anything," he says.

© 2021 AFP