“The ocean is a freeing place, in a world where I often feel limited….”
July 19, 2023
An Empowering Community
July 29, 2023
Words: Austin Glickman – President of Law Enforcement Officers Weekend (@LEO_Weekend)
Photos: Jason Belsky (@jaybelsky)
Date: July 29th, 2023
LEO Participant
Another year, another amazing time with our friends from Surf For All and Skudin Surf!
On Saturday, July 29th, 2023, Surf For All & Skudin Surf welcomed Law Enforcement Officers Weekend for their 4th Annual weekend getaway in the beautiful City by the Sea, Long Beach, NY! A fellow nonprofit, LEO Weekend’s mission is to provide weekend getaways to the families of injured and fallen officers. Since 2017, they’ve supported 65 families, representing 27 law enforcement agencies from 16 different states.
Up and riding, AND Stoked!
Skudin Surf and Surf For All has been an intricate part of LEO Weekend’s Long Beach getaway since the inaugural year in 2019. Providing a fun and relaxing surf lesson for these families, but more importantly, pushing officers to physical limits they never knew would be possible. From spending weeks, months or years in physical rehab, recovering from gunshot wounds, missing limbs, broken bones or stab wounds, to standing up on a surf board in the Atlantic Ocean is an experience they’ll never forget!
This year, 8 injured officers and their families entered the Atlantic Ocean on Riverside Beach, flanked by professional surfers and amazing instructors. The amount of patience and caring nature shown by each instructor was beyond commendable. Each injured officer, with their own aliments, their own disabilities, would be a challenge for most, but not for these “ocean angels” as one officer called them. Going from a hospital bed to a surf board certainly isn’t easy, but with instructors like these, the impossible became reality.
Thumbs Up All Around
An amputated leg, a bullet lodged in the brain, missing intestines, skull fractures and bodies riddled with injuries. These are just a few injuries to highlight, which to our ocean angels, made no difference. No matter their physical boundaries, each officer, flanked by their families and friends, stood up on their surfboards one-by-one. Some even on their first try! By the end of the day, we almost needed a net to capture some of these newly-formed surfers whom refused to get out of the water!
Skudin Surf and the staff/volunteers from Surf For All are true heroes. When we, the first responders, need to be rescued from our own-selves, we wouldn’t typically look at surfers for help. Yet, we did, and we couldn’t be happier to be partners with such beautiful humans bringing smiles and joy to all of our attendees who need this more than anyone will ever know.
Thank you Skudin Surf & Surf For All! Cheers to many more interactions between our organizations!
Austin Glickman, Will Skudin
