Surf dog Ricochet traded in her long board for a paddle board Sunday for a special Waves of Empowerment program.
The program, called Stand Up with a Warrior, matches children with special needs, combat vets and other adults with disabilities together as a mentorship opportunity.
People of all ages spent the day paddle boarding and wake boarding at the Carlsbad Lagoon. Ricochet made several trips out on a paddle board, accompanying children with special needs.
Jim Von Normann described the event as healing and empowering.
“It’s like getting to the finish line,” Von Normann said. “And turning around and seeing who we can help across.”
Von Normann is a recent amputee who lost his leg after a drunk driver hit him in 2015.
If it weren’t for Ricochet, he would have gone to a much darker place, he said. But the Surf Dog helped him gain confidence. Von Normann met Ricochet in 2016 at Lake Tahoe when he tried to wake board for the first time since his accident.
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“The healing medium of water is something that has helped me big time,” Von Normann said. “I can push limits that I wouldn’t on the pavement or snow.”
The event was organized by the Surf Dog Ricochet Organization, an organization aimed at helping those with social anxieties, special needs, PTSD or wounded warriors through water sports activities.
Ricochet is the only Surf-ice dog in the country. She began her therapy in 2009 after independently jumping on a surfboard with a boy who is quadriplegic and helping him surf. Since then she’s helped thousands of other people through adaptive surfing.
