AMERICANWAY
DECEMBER2015
89
8,who,whenhe tookViorel’sweeklong
surfcamp twosummersago,wouldonly
floatoutbeyond thebreakers;hewas too
scared tosurf in.
Likeallof thechildrenhere today,
Dyan,MaddoxandEvanareblind, but
this facthasn’tdampened theiren-
thusiasm. Inandout theygo, as fast
as their little legswill carry them.The
longer-legged instructorshustle tokeep
up.Evanpauseson theshoreonly long
enough toaffirm tohismom that this is
asawesomeas it looks.Hewastesnooth-
er timeonshorebecause thewavesare
out thereandstandingstill ishere, and
there isnoquestionwhichhe likesbetter.
Viorel spendsmuchof today’s two-
hoursessionbouncing fromkid tokid,
fromsand towater,offering instruction
andencouragementwith thepaceand
styleofa lightningbolt. “Weareshooting
forsomethingmuchgreater thansurfing,”
hesays. “For thechild
who’sblind,maybewe’re
helping themshed their
limitingbeliefs.Whatever
it is, itbecomesmuch less
aboutsurfingandmuch
moreabouteverythingelse
in their lives.”
Hepoints toEvanasan
example.Aregularat the
camp,Evan improved last
year, surfing in tandem
withhis instructorafter
hismom,Traci, forbade
him from justbobbing
aroundagain.On thefirst
dayof theweeklongcamp
thisyear,Evanrode the
firstwaveandwasmet
withclappingandcheering
from theshore.Thisboy,
whomTraciused tocall
her“fearfulchild,”now
eagerlyseeksout thenextwave,hoping
for thenextroundofapplause.Ashe
comes inandoutof thewaves,Traci says
hersonattacks therestofhis life thesame
waynow too.
V
iorelfirststartedoffering
hissurfcampseightyears
ago,hoping to inspire
peoplewhowouldother-
wisenever touchaboard.
Hisstudentscome fromBelarus,with
sicknessesrelated to theChernobyldisas-
ter, and fromMarineCorpsBaseCamp
Lejeune inJacksonville,NorthCarolina,
with injuriessuffered inIraqandAfghan-
istan.SomeofhisstudentshaveHIVor
Blindchildrenattendcamp
inJune2015.
