April 9, 2012

SandBoxBlogs: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel "Fruita girl goes from wheelchair to riding waves"

An amazing story and a very special organization.

Dennis Webb:
"Josie DeHart is a girl from Fruita who lives her life in a wheelchair.

Tom Brady is a superstar New England Patriots quarterback still feeling the sting of a recent Super Bowl defeat.

But in late February, they were just two more vacationers working on their surfing skills on a beach in Costa Rica.

Josie and her parents, Nina and Jimmy, went to a surfing camp for children with disabilities and their families.

The camp is offered by an Aspen-based nonprofit organization, the Ocean Healing Group.

While they were there, Brady and Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker happened to stop by for a visit.

Brady’s wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, has a home near the beach retreat where the camp is operated.

Interaction with an NFL great isn’t a normal part of the camp’s activities, but Ocean Healing founder Frank Bauer wouldn’t be surprised to see more appearances by Brady.

“He will likely start coming to more of them,” Bauer said. “This is the first time that we were having an adaptive camp the same time he was in town.”

Their encounter with Brady and Welker was the icing on the cake for the DeHarts, who are full of praise for the opportunity that the Ocean Healing Group offers. They enjoyed not only snorkeling, but jungle zip-lining, deep-sea fishing, fine dining, bonfires and more......

.....Bauer said he sees Brady frequently in Costa Rica but doesn’t usually talk football with him, recognizing that Brady and his wife go there as an escape from such things. So, Bauer didn’t ask him about the Super Bowl loss.

Bauer added, “I was going to go Tebow right there in front of him, but I thought that might go over bad.”...."  (Read more?  Click title) 

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