Anzac Day 2015 greeted surfers with less than average conditions. Nevertheless that didn’t deter Chris, Nick and Brock - three good mates obsessed with surfing - who paddled out at Right Point, Fishery Bay. But nothing could prepare them for what they were about to encounter.

Chris Blowes was paddling back out to tell the others he was going to get one more wave before heading in, when he was hit from behind by what felt like a truck. Chris was engulfed in the jaws of a great white shark.

Chris, his board and the shark were no where to be seen. When Chris popped up his mates moved quickly to rescue him, with the ever-present shark beneath them.

Chris had lost a leg and had serious lacerations to his left flank. He had lost a lot of blood and if that wasn’t bad enough he was at the bottom of a cliff, over 30km from the nearest country hospital with little acute trauma resources.

Fast thinking and proactive surfers worked quickly to tourniquet his leg and stretcher him to an awaiting vehicle where they drove to meet paramedics.

Barely alive Chris received just under 90 minutes of CPR in the ambulance and emergency department of the Port Lincoln hospital, where a team of diligent paramedics, nurses and doctors worked hard to bring Chris back from the brink.

1976, When ‘Mono’ was fifteen he was told he had Osteosarcoma; bone cancer. He went through 2 years of chemotherapy after the doctors removed his right leg above the knee.  After he lost his leg he started to work out how he could surf again. He believes it was this passion to surf again that has been his driving force and determination in life. In September 2015, at the age of 53, he won the inaugural International Surfing Association World Adaptive Surfing Championship in La Jolla, California. Since then- He has 6 WORLD TITLES and has Competed in 30 International Surfing events - making the final in all and WINNING 27 OF THEM. “Surfing’s kept me alive and kept me inspired — it’s good for the body as well as the soul,’’ he said. “It’s such a leveller. You can surf with people and they don’t even realise you’ve got one leg until you get out of the water. “I had a young boy come up to me in Indonesia not long ago who told me ‘if I ever lose a leg, I want to surf just like you’. It was like wow, pretty heart-wrenching stuff.’ Mono lives life to the fullest and his positivity and tenaciousness is infectious. “There are so many people that are worse off than me, that inspire me,’’ Mono said. “I’m lucky; I’m only missing a leg.” Note;  in 2022 Mark was diagnosed with stage 4 Matastised Melignant Melanoma. He had a 38mm Melanoma tumour in his left lung. The only hope was a new treatment called Immunotherapy. To the doctors amazement the tumour disapeared after only 2 treatments and at the beginning of 2023 he was cleared of any cancer. Obviously Mark still surfed and competed through his treatment in the belief that surfing, the ocean and the love of his adaptive surfing family are what helped him beat the cancer, again!  

I grew up skateboarding and body boarding on the South Coast of New South Wales. I was also a keen Snowboarder and became a snowboard instructor until i broke my back in 2014. After my injury I focused on Sit-skiing and trained and raced in Colorado and Europe and made it onto the Australian development team. During this time I also met my wife Laurie Foti who is here representing England in the prone unassisted division. We have a daughter together Vada and have spent this year travelling and competing in the AASP world tour. 

International Motivational speaker, Blind 3% vision. Paralympian Rio 2016. 4 x World Champ Para Surfer, XL Nazare Surfer, Guinness World record IS2 largest wave (51ft), World Champ Cyclist, Cycling World Record Holder, Award Winning Children's Book Author "Surfing in The Dark", Subject of Feature Documentary "The Blind Sea", Family Man! 3 kids, Esquire Article on Surfing XL Nazare https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a42776925/dark-places-blind-surfer-matt-formston/

I grew up on an island on Sydney's Northern Beaches which is an absolute haven for watersports. I loved surfing and would get out there with my mates as often as possible. As a teen I started losing my night vision and peripheral vision. I was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative condition. This progressively took things from my life not just my sight, my opportunity to drive a car, my independence, confidence, bike riding, surfing….. At this point I got into sailing and started to sail competitively, which gave me great freedom. Ocean racing taught me about everyone bringing their strengths to the team. I’ve competed in many campaigns including 10 Sydney to Hobarts. I would surf very occasionally with friends when out of Sydney. A friend who is an amputee surfer encouraged me to enter the Australian National para titles. This really inspired me, seeing others surfing despite their challenges. This has pushed me to get out there as much as I can and really work on improving my surfing. In 2019 I competed in my first international  competition, the US Open Adaptive Surfing Championships, where I won the blind (VS1) division. I competed in the 2020 ISA para surfing world titles, won silver in 2021 World titles and Bronze in 2022. I won Gold in 2023 and won the AASP tour in 2024. Looking forward to competing at Huntington Beach again, this year. 

In 2022 whilst on a family surfing trip around the world I experienced a rare vascular condition that caused swelling of my spinal cord affecting my nerves and sending non oxygenated blood to my lower body. I had a life saving surgery and have been rehabilitating ever since. 5 months post injury in 2023 i got involved with competitive adaptive surfing competing on the 3 leg AASP professional adaptive surfing World Tour in Hawaii, Costa Rica and Oceanside California coming away as World Champion in 2023. Then 2024 the AASP had 4 legs in Byron Bay Australia, Hawaii, Costa Rica and Oceanside California. I managed to take the World Title win again making it back to back 2023 and 2024 World Titles.  won back to back World Titles. 
I competed at ISA 2023 making the final with an unfortunate interference going against me throwing me into 4th place. Looking to improve on that this year. 

I've only recently got back in the water (June 2023) after 17 years due to suffering a C5 incomplete Spinal cord injury back in 2006. I have an amazing support crew around me.

Our achievements so far are - 

#2 Mens Prone Assist in Australia 2023

#2 Mens Prone Assist Byron Bay Adaptive Pro 2024

#1 Mens Prone Assist in Australia 2024

I love photography (especially surfing & motocross) I encourage you to check out my work over on instagram at @c.captures_sports

Cheers,

Cliffo

Joel Taylor is a World Champion paraplegic surfer born and bred in Lennox Head on the Far North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, where he still calls home with his wife Lorin and their two young sons, Jay and Sunny.  

An accident at Pipeline, Hawaii in 2001 ended Joel’s past life as a professional bodyboarder and left him confined to a wheelchair; paralysed from the waist down with a spinal cord injury. Resigned to the fact that he would never walk, let alone surf again, Joel didn’t so much as touch the ocean for 20 years, until he rediscovered and fell in love with surfing again in 2022.   

Just 12 months later, in August of 2023, Joel won the Australian Para Surfing Titles. He was then selected for and later named captain of the Australian team, The Irukandjis, to compete at the ISA World Para Surfing Championships at Huntington Beach, California that November, which he also won.  

In January 2024 Joel was announced Ballina Shire Citizen of the Year for 2024 and a month later, in February, he was awarded Male Para Surfer of the Year at the 2023 Australian Surfing Awards.  

Joel’s comeback story of unrelenting perseverance and resilience has inspired people and resonated with media outlets all around the world. As is evidenced by, when, in March 2024, he appeared on the cover and was featured in Good Weekend Magazine, inside The Sydney Morning Herald, the most-read newspaper in Australia, with over eight million readers.

An avid advocate for people with disability, in April 2024 Joel joined forces with Local and State Government to push for increased disabled access at New South Wales beaches. In conjunction, he is an ambassador for Accessible Beaches Australia to help improve accessibility nationwide.

In May 2024 Joel started a partnership with Red Bull as a Wings For Life ambassador. A cause he is deeply connected with through experience, Wings For Life raises awareness and money to support research projects to help find a cure for those affected by spinal cord injury.   

By successfully defending his Australian Para Surfing Title at the Australian Surfing Championships in August 2024, Joel is now a back-to-back Australian Champion. Through winning Joel has qualified to represent Australia as an Irukandji again and will now defend his World Title also at the 2024 ISA World Para Surfing Championships in Huntington Beach, California, in November.