When the Ocean Doesn't Care About
Your Disability by Rami Beracha
Rami Beracha observes that there's something beautifully honest about kitesurfing – the wind and waves don't give you points for effort, and they certainly don't make accommodations for missing limbs When you're out there with a prosthetic, fighting to control a kite that wants to drag you across the water, the ocean becomes the ultimate equalizer It doesn't care about your story or your limitations. It only responds to skill, determination, and a healthy dose of calculated recklessness
I've watched amputee kitesurfers do things that would terrify most non-disabled athletes. There's something almost defiant about strapping on a prosthetic leg, grabbing a kite, and launching yourself twenty feet into the air. It's like giving physics the middle finger and asking for more. These aren't people trying to prove anything to anyone – they're just humans who refuse to let circumstances dictate their adventures
The technical challenges are real, though. Prosthetics and saltwater don't play nice together. Sand gets into joints that weren't designed for beach landings. The balance dynamics change completely when your ankle doesn't flex naturally or your knee joint locks at weird angles Every wipeout becomes a gear check to make sure everything's still attached and functional.
However, what blows my mind is that many prosthetic kitesurfers claim they feel most "complete" when they're on the water. Something about the harmony between humans, machines, wind, and waves creates this perfect flow state, where disability becomes irrelevant The prosthetic isn't a limitation – it's just another piece of equipment, like the harness or the board.
The community aspect is incredible, too The kitesurfing world has this unspoken code where your ability to read wind conditions matters way more than how many original limbs you're working with. Veterans teach rookies regardless of hardware configurations. Everyone celebrates sick jumps and commiserates over brutal crashes with equal enthusiasm
What strikes me most is how these athletes approach risk differently from the rest of us When you've already adapted to life-changing circumstances, the prospect of getting worked by a wave or crashing a kite doesn't feel existential It's just Tuesday They've already proven to themselves that they can handle whatever comes next.
The real magic isn't in defying limits – it's in discovering that most limits exist primarily in our heads. The ocean doesn't see disability. The wind doesn't discriminate. And sometimes that's precisely the kind of honest feedback we need to remind us of what we're actually capable of