Wheelchair Surfing

Jesse’s story
Jesse Billauer age 31, born February 24, 1979, is a well known Californian surfer. Billauer suffered an accident on March 25, 1996 at the age of 17. He hit his head on a shallow sandbar after being knocked off his surfboard by a wave. The force broke his neck, severing his spinal cord at the C6 level and the accident instantly rendered him a quadriplegic.
Billauer was told by doctors that he would never surf again. However, Billauer eventually did return to surfing, adapting his surfing technique and equipment to the situation of his current condition. He has become a role model guide to many other surfers, both professional and amateur, on how to life a life to the fullest, despite a life changing injury.
After graduating from Malibu High School, Billauer eventually enrolled at San Diego State University, with an emphasis in communications. He graduated in 2002. He is also a motivational speaker, and is involved with a non profit foundation, ‘Life Rolls On’ (LRO). Through this foundation, Jesse is taking a leading role in awareness and activism for spinal cord injury research, picking up where Christopher Reeve left off.
See www.jessesstory.com

Jesse has inspired many young people with disabilities to partake in extreme sports. Patrick Ivison is just one of these young people. He has been in a wheelchair since he was 14 months old, when a car reversed over him and trapped him under the car. His disability has not stopped him from waterskiing, jet-skiing, kayaking, sailing, hand-cycling, playing rugby, surfing and just about anything else his Mother will let him try! He is now an ambassador for Life Rolls On.
Life Rolls On is a division of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. It is dedicated to improving the quality of life for young people affected by spinal cord injury and utilises action sports as a platform to inspire infinite possibilities despite paralysis.
They Will Surf Again (TWSA) – Is Life Rolls On’s flagship programme. It is an adaptive surfing programme for people with spinal cord injuries and is also a life-changing volunteer experience for volunteers. It is not just about the surfing, recently LRO has added They Will Ski Again and They Will Skate Again programmes.
See www.liferollson.org.

Click here

National Disability Authority - list of useful contacts - both national and international.

Calling all rollers, runners, joggers or walkers!

Homelink and Easi-Cabs are looking for rollers, runners, joggers or walkers to join us in taking part in the Flora Women's Dublin Mini Marathon on Bank Holiday Monday, June 7th 2010. All funds raised will go towards the running of our much needed services for older people and people with mobility difficulties in Wicklow and South Dublin.

Official registration for this year's Flora Women’s Mini Marathon begins Wednesday 3rd March 2010. If you would like to run, jog or walk , to help raise essential funds for Homelink and Easi-cabs, please contact us in Bray on 01 201 4473/01 276 5488.

To enter the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon you must enter either on the official Entry Form which will appear in the Evening Herald every Wednesday and Saturday from 3rd March 2010, or online from 3rd March 2010. (On-line entries will incur an extra €1 bank processing charge)

We are really looking forward to this fun day taking part in the biggest all-women’s event of its kind in the world. The event is open to all fitness levels and to get you up and running we'll help you along the way with:
· A sponsorship pack
· Information on our vital services
· Fitness and Training advice
· Homelink & Easi-Cab t-shirt to stand out on the day
· Our blog for updates on our own in-house training progress
By participating in the marathon for Homelink and Easi-cabs you are not only raising funds but also helping to raise awareness of our helpful services. The funds raised will go towards the provision of free phone support, free small home repairs service and accessible transport.
We are very excited here about taking part and we hope you will join us with the challenge.

Bocce

Bocce (or Bocci, or Boccie) is a precision sport belonging to the boules sport family, closely related to bowls and pétanque with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire.

Developed into its present form in Italy (where it is called Bocce, the plural of the Italian word boccia which means "bowl"), it is played around Europe and also in countries that have received Italian migrants, including Australia, North America and South America (where it is known as bochas; "bolas criollas" in Venezuela), initially amongst the migrants themselves but slowly becoming more popular with their descendants and the wider community.

Bray lakers play Bocce and so do the The Blackrock Flyers! The Bray Lakers always welcome new members: Call 01 202 2694.

Swishing!

Some of the gorgeous clothes that were Swished!!

Thanks to everyone who came along on the night, we had a great time!