Relearning a New Pace and Place with the Best Community by JK Team | Nov 7, 2022 | Antix, Featured Post, jacksonkayak.com, JAdventures Main Banner, River Running, Whitewater, Whitewater Feature, WW Disciplines | 8 comments submitted by Susan Curtin The thrill of rain and checking gauges or looking for dam release levels to pick places to paddle- It’s all part of a bigger story with relationships with our kayaking friends, with ourselves, with the water and natural places that it takes us. It’s all part of being in the kayaking community where we have shared experiences. My experience as part of this community has spanned two decades now, with a long gap and a catastrophic injury that brought me back in a different capacity. For me in the years right before my injury I had drifted away from kayaking. I was part of the mountain biking community and sometimes enduro and DH racing communities. I got injured mountain biking and became a T12 paraplegic in August 2020. A crash on a familiar line taking me down this unexpected path in my life requiring courage, determination, and redefining myself while still in many ways being the same person. I felt thrust into the spotlight with everyone’s eyes on me- friends, family, strangers while I learned to live again in a body that no longer worked as it used to. I kayaked a lot for about 10 years before my injury paddling mostly class IV-V creeks. 7 months after my injury I got back in a boat. Kayaking became a big part of my recovery, a sport I loved before I became so dang consumed with mountain biking. Part of my physical recovery in strengthening and engagement of what I can in my legs, but my mental recovery too with building confidence and the connections to nature and people. My way of defining myself, relationships, and life was challenged as I was so suddenly removed from my prior athletic abilities. When I got back in a whitewater boat, I struggled to relearn balance and boat control with poor hip strength and get the right boat and outfitting. I kept trying, working hard on my balance with surfing and side surfing, and on my roll. These new efforts are harder in many ways than anything I had ever done before. I now paddle class I-III and surf a lot of small waves with goals to do more, but those goals are loose and flexible. My inward and external focus and validation have become different, but the focus and clarity that come with being in the moment doing a sport is unchanged and relationships are stronger. Kayaking at a certain level before always required an amount of trust in your parters which is a really cool thing about the sport. It’s even more so for me now. I get carried to put ins, at take outs, and on portages; my roll is weak and I have to think about how a rescue will go, if needed. Kayaking has always taken me into rad, remote, otherwise inaccessible places, but now with my new limitations- I value more the places the rivers take me. Watching the wildlife and feeling and seeing the flow of the water and being in these places is a gift. Despite my now broken body, I still have a lot to give to give physically and mentally to continue to progress and have fun on the river. But this body is only a vessel for my soul. The rivers feed my soul just like the connections they establish and being part of a community. 8 Comments Mark Beabey on November 7, 2022 at 11:29 am Wonderful to read your words here and to be taken along on your journey. I can relate in so many ways to the feelings you describe when you are on the water. All of us who have suffered an SCI are faced with the huge and unforeseen task of having to redefine ourselves and our relationships with the world and our people. You have obviously succeeded in finding a path through the pain, confusion and fear, and found a place to nourish your soul – much love, peace and strength to you for your onward journey. Reply Lynda Greene on November 7, 2022 at 7:19 pm Thank you for opening up a window to your soul with your words. The river.is beautiful and you are too! Reply Cheryl on November 7, 2022 at 9:37 pm I love this. I always kayaked in rivers. It made me feel equal to my nonhandicapped friends and family. But now it’s too hard to get me in and out of the kayak and rivers. All of the egresses and exits are on high banks. But you’ve given me the desire to keep thinking and trying to come up with ways to go kayak again! Reply Todd on November 13, 2022 at 11:01 pm Don’t give up ! you can find a way. there are plenty of rivers that have easier accesses. it’s worth doing it even if only a few times per year. get that desire back and you will find a way. don’t make me come out there and make you go kayaking 🙂 because i just might, the only reason I won’t is because I don’t know where you live don’t send me your address, you don’t know me, I could be a weirdo ( i’m not ) but you don’t know that 🙂 come back here and post your story of your latest kayaking outing. I’ll be waiting to see that post. and when you say how much fun it was,….. I can say ” I told you so” or ” I’m glad you listened to me” now go find some rivers you can get to and get on, Reply Beth Hudspeth on November 9, 2022 at 11:35 am Thank you for your post and being so brave and grateful to be able to get on the river and enjoy nature and friends You inspired me today to be grateful Reply RW on November 13, 2022 at 10:45 pm Very nice. Thank you. Keep paddling ! Reply Linda H on November 11, 2022 at 2:05 pm You are the strongest person I know Your spirit and determination are inspiring. Please remember you don’t have to be strong all the time. Your just a little human trying to find your way in a new reality. Reply Todd on November 13, 2022 at 10:39 pm The paddling community is the most helpful I have ever seen. Don’t give up, & don’t be afraid to ask for help, Help is out there. You might not be able to do certain rivers anymore but that’s ok ! there are plenty of beautiful rivers that you can do, and over time, you will be amazed on how far you’ve come after starting over again. I was in the same boat as you 16 yrs ago when I was hit head on, on the highway. The doctors told me that I would never kayak again. after being in a wheelchair for 14 months and having to learn how to walk again, I was back in a kayak with help from friends, they started taking me to the river, getting me in my kayak ( 2010 JK Star ) and having to put my skirt on because I could not Just keep getting out there and on the river. I can tell by your story that you are a strong willed person and have the never give up attitude that keeps you going. if you don’t already, start recreational kayaking too for those days when you just want to relax and enjoy the scenery. plus you can take adult beverages and enjoy them on the river too :)…. Thanks for sharing your story, you might not know it but it will inspire many others as well. I’m now Inspired by you and also jealous because your young and pretty. Im 58 yrs old and not pretty, so listen to your elders ( me ) and keep going just like you are I HOPE TO SYOTR some day, & I hope you will autograph my kayak ( small Rockstar V ) Reply Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ
Mark Beabey on November 7, 2022 at 11:29 am Wonderful to read your words here and to be taken along on your journey. I can relate in so many ways to the feelings you describe when you are on the water. All of us who have suffered an SCI are faced with the huge and unforeseen task of having to redefine ourselves and our relationships with the world and our people. You have obviously succeeded in finding a path through the pain, confusion and fear, and found a place to nourish your soul – much love, peace and strength to you for your onward journey. Reply
Lynda Greene on November 7, 2022 at 7:19 pm Thank you for opening up a window to your soul with your words. The river.is beautiful and you are too! Reply
Cheryl on November 7, 2022 at 9:37 pm I love this. I always kayaked in rivers. It made me feel equal to my nonhandicapped friends and family. But now it’s too hard to get me in and out of the kayak and rivers. All of the egresses and exits are on high banks. But you’ve given me the desire to keep thinking and trying to come up with ways to go kayak again! Reply
Todd on November 13, 2022 at 11:01 pm Don’t give up ! you can find a way. there are plenty of rivers that have easier accesses. it’s worth doing it even if only a few times per year. get that desire back and you will find a way. don’t make me come out there and make you go kayaking 🙂 because i just might, the only reason I won’t is because I don’t know where you live don’t send me your address, you don’t know me, I could be a weirdo ( i’m not ) but you don’t know that 🙂 come back here and post your story of your latest kayaking outing. I’ll be waiting to see that post. and when you say how much fun it was,….. I can say ” I told you so” or ” I’m glad you listened to me” now go find some rivers you can get to and get on, Reply
Beth Hudspeth on November 9, 2022 at 11:35 am Thank you for your post and being so brave and grateful to be able to get on the river and enjoy nature and friends You inspired me today to be grateful Reply
Linda H on November 11, 2022 at 2:05 pm You are the strongest person I know Your spirit and determination are inspiring. Please remember you don’t have to be strong all the time. Your just a little human trying to find your way in a new reality. Reply
Todd on November 13, 2022 at 10:39 pm The paddling community is the most helpful I have ever seen. Don’t give up, & don’t be afraid to ask for help, Help is out there. You might not be able to do certain rivers anymore but that’s ok ! there are plenty of beautiful rivers that you can do, and over time, you will be amazed on how far you’ve come after starting over again. I was in the same boat as you 16 yrs ago when I was hit head on, on the highway. The doctors told me that I would never kayak again. after being in a wheelchair for 14 months and having to learn how to walk again, I was back in a kayak with help from friends, they started taking me to the river, getting me in my kayak ( 2010 JK Star ) and having to put my skirt on because I could not Just keep getting out there and on the river. I can tell by your story that you are a strong willed person and have the never give up attitude that keeps you going. if you don’t already, start recreational kayaking too for those days when you just want to relax and enjoy the scenery. plus you can take adult beverages and enjoy them on the river too :)…. Thanks for sharing your story, you might not know it but it will inspire many others as well. I’m now Inspired by you and also jealous because your young and pretty. Im 58 yrs old and not pretty, so listen to your elders ( me ) and keep going just like you are I HOPE TO SYOTR some day, & I hope you will autograph my kayak ( small Rockstar V ) Reply
