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Despite losing his lower right leg in an industrial accident in 2014, Wayne Figliomeni never once considered not surfing again. Instead, it was just a matter of how.
As it turned out, he did not have to wait long before inspiration struck.
"I'd just come out of an operation after the accident, whipped open the laptop, found footage of guys surfing with a prosthesis and thought, 'Sweet, that's me from now on then'," Mr Figliomeni said, while checking conditions at his home break in Western Australia's south-west.
"These guys were ripping and having a great old time, so from that point on I just worked towards getting back out there."
Just six months after the accident, caused by a steel pipe rolling off a forklift and onto his leg, Mr Figliomeni found himself riding a wave alongside his son, wearing a prosthetic leg at his home beach of Binningup.
"It felt so good just being to ride a wave again. To do it alongside my son was icing on the cake," he said.
World titles await
This weekend, Mr Figliomeni and two other WA surfers will join 17 other competitors for the Australian Adaptive Surfing Titles at Cabarita Beach in northern New South Wales.
On offer is not just the chance to win the Australian title, but also a spot on the Australian team set to compete at the International Surfing Association's World Adaptive Surfing Championships in California in November.
The 40-year-old competed last year and said the success of the event and resulting coverage in mainstream and social media platforms had attracted more competitors this year.
"The whole event is a celebration in a way of just being able to surf again," Mr Figliomeni said.
"There is a slightly competitive element to the event, but it doesn't pay the bills for any of us so that keeps it light-hearted, which is cool."
Mr Figliomeni said the event was also another avenue for adaptive athletes to demystify the process of coming to terms with the loss of a limb and getting back into sport.
"I definitely engage with anyone who wants to know what happened and how my prosthetic leg works, because I totally understand how it can be daunting for some people," he said.
"That's the cool thing about this event and others like it.
"Unfortunately people lose limbs all the time and to be able to help someone on that road to recovery, whether it be through words of advice or equipment, it's always going to be a fun thing for me to pass along."
Healing power of surfing
Fellow WA surfer Sean Catlin will be competing in the event for the first time.
Mr Catlin was left paraplegic after a motor vehicle accident in 2014, and said he was "nervously excited" about the event but was viewing it as a welcome back to the surfing community he feared he was lost to after the incident.
"I've been surfing all my life and I felt like I'd lost my identity in a way when I initially thought I couldn't do it again," Mr Catlin said.
"The joy of just paddling back out after riding a wave is what keeps us going."
The 40-year-old Mr Catlin, who lives just north of Perth, said his return to surfing had been encouraged by viewing footage of last year's event, and social media contact with surfers in a similar predicament.
His biggest challenge though remains access to the beach. For the most part he surfs at breaks where he is able to drive onto the beach.
"It's a bit tricky and living where I do with the beach right there in front of me is like one big tease," Mr Catlin said.
"But it's not just me facing that issue, it's the same for the elderly and others with limited mobility.
"Like most things though, you just work your way around it."
Topics: surfing, sport, disabilities, binningup-6233, cabarita-beach-2488