Catching Waves, Praising Jesus, & Talking Life with Adaptive Surfing Champion Shawnie Whitaker

We can't be nothing without people loving on you and speaking like it to you.

So when I tell people, you know, I say thank you very much for the affirmations, but I'm only who I am because of my friends and family and God, you know.

SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Lowdown with Kevin Lowe, the podcast shining light on the inspiring stories of ordinary people choosing to live out anything but ordinary lives.

All in the hope that you will be inspired to live out your best life.

Because this life is meant to be lived, and this podcast is meant to inspire you to do it.

What's up?

Welcome to the podcast.

I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, and this is episode number 95 here on The Lowdown with Kevin Lowe.

First and foremost, thank you for joining me today.

I'm super stoked to have you here, and I'm super excited to get to introduce to you the guy I'm talking to.

Now, you may have guessed from the title of today's episode that we're getting a little crazy and having a whole lot of fun with today's guest.

His name is Shawnee Whitaker, and I've come up with a creative way to describe to you who this guy is.

And I came back to the ingredients to go into a cocktail.

That's right.

We are hitting up the poolside bar today for the cocktail that I have named the Shawnee Whitaker cocktail.

Made with two shots of love, one shot of pure awesomeness and a splash of crazy.

You shake that up with a little ice, and you have yourself the Shawnee Whitaker cocktail.

Now, what's cool is on today's episode, we're gonna be sipping on this cocktail all the way through.

And Shawnee, he's a really amazing guy who has overcome adversity.

And to be honest, when I look at Shawnee's story that you're about to hear, I realize how crazy beautiful life is.

How the hardships we face today, we have no idea how they're gonna impact our life of tomorrow.

How they're going to mold us into the person that we become.

And when Shawnee had an accident as a teenager, I look at that and I realize, wow, look at how that has set him up to become the man that he is today.

A man who is using his own adversity to now inspire others, to inspire me.

Because Shawnee is an adaptive surfing champion doing stuff on the water that most people can only dream of doing, like myself.

Yet Shawnee's doing it with only one leg.

Because as a teenager, Shawnee had an accident that left him an amputee.

You're gonna hear that story and so much more inside of today's episode.

Today's episode is being sponsored by my coaching business, Kevin Lowe Coaching, where I help people turn their challenges into opportunities in the way of starting a new business that pulls on their passions and their desires and leaves them with a career that has them feeling to fulfill.

And that's what I've done in my own life.

And now I'm helping others do it in theirs.

If you're interested in learning more about working with me as a transformational life and business coach, please be sure to check out the episode show notes, or you can always just visit kevinlowcoaching.com.

All right, here is my interview with adaptive surfing champion, the Shawnee Whitaker cocktail, or we'll just say Shawnee Whitaker.

SPEAKER_01: You know, I was a young kid just uh trying to make it, you know, in the world as uh, you know, growing up from elementary school to middle school.

I had some great friends that uh, you know, that we all started surfing together.

I was 11 years of age.

I lived a good life, you know.

We have a very unconditional family.

You know, my family parents were divorced, and my father was an addict.

He passed away at 39 years of age, a heroin overdose.

But um, you know, and so therefore divorce, not a lot of money growing up.

But um, the Whitaker house had lots of love, you know.

Love, love, love.

You know, we we we told each other, we showed each other.

So um, even though my childhood wasn't quite the norm, it was very unique, you know.

And so um, you know, fast forward, you know, then um I always played sports my entire life football, basketball, baseball, surfing, then wrestling.

You know, just uh I had a great young childhood.

You know, young, I was a life of uh bliss pretty much.

And then on um, I think December 16th, 1989, uh me and my friends were driving to the beach early one morning.

And I had to work that day, so therefore I drove by myself.

And so my friends were behind me in a uh Volkswagen bus, my friend Mike, E.

Jeff, Chris, C C David.

And also over there on 415, that's when we got a car accident going to the beach, and um me and his car collided and lights out.

It lights out, and so um, so you know, then fast forward, I got I was in a coma 28 days.

I was in the hospital three and a half months, you know, and I sat there, woke up in the hospital, and looked down, and they took my spleen out, so my liver up, and I looked down, I saw my leg wasn't there.

And um, it's pretty traumatic.

And I was informed that I wasn't involved in car accidents, I was informed that uh I lost half my leg.

So that was pretty much the start of my beautiful life because I always tell people that my loss was actually my gain.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: I lost half my leg, I found life, I found Jesus.

If I had to go back and do it again, I would change that one thing.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love it.

So, how old were you when that happened?

SPEAKER_01: I was uh 16 and a half, so I just turned 16 in June, and some new driver had myself an old orange Mustang, leather seats, no AC.

It was right, orange and ugly.

Yeah.

But my parents like I was like, what is this?

You don't want it?

We'll take it back.

I'm like, okay, I'll take it.

So uh, so yeah, but you know, I was 16 of age, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: Wow.

Wow, and so I can't help but look at this similarity to my own story in the fact that, you know, I was 17, so basically the same age, you know, when I found out that I had the brain tumor and then went into surgery and, you know, and came out of surgery, you know, to be left completely blind.

Again, this life-changing event that, you know, as you kind of said, it's almost almost a pivotal moment in your life where it's kind of almost like the the both the ending and the beginning, you know?

Yes.

And yeah.

So tell me, so did they tell you what caused them to have to cut off part of your leg were you trapped?

Like what was the scenario?

SPEAKER_01: Oh, I guess, you know, I got I got hit in my driver's side door, and so my left leg where it got amped, where it got crushed, was so mangled, supposedly, that they couldn't save it.

And um, the guy who actually amputated my leg, Dr.

Williamson, I was his first amp he patient before amputation on.

So I was his very first patient.

So he did a great job.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was uh it was remarkable.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

Yeah.

Now, was that above the knee or below the knee?

SPEAKER_01: Well, through the grace of God, it's below the knee.

You know, when you start having amput the knee, that's a game changer, you know.

But uh yeah, it's below the knee, by about seven inches below my knee.

So I still have uh my knee, some flexibility, so I'm able to kind of walk pretty good these days, you know?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.

So so here you are, you're you know, 16 years old, living life, headed out surfing, and now you have this totally life-changing event happen.

What did life kind of look like in those years after?

I mean, was it not only the physical, but I mean, I can imagine the emotional toll as well?

SPEAKER_01: It's kind of weird, Kevin.

I got an accident.

I was taken to the Halifax Hospital over there by the 2500 in a speedway.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: And um the community came together and set up a Sean Whitaker Surf Trust Fund.

You know, we didn't have a lot of money.

So my friends came together and they had surf contests, car washes, basketball tournaments, dances, flower sales, and they raised over$34,000 for me.

Wow, three and a half months before the internet, before Gophum, you know, so it's um pretty crazy.

Yeah.

And so uh and so and and I had so many visitors come visit me up at the Tony Beach that they moved into my own personal room.

They said, Mr.

Whitaker, you can be visitors.

And so um, you know, I so I sat there and Kevin, I can only tell I can I can honestly tell you, I can honestly tell you that I was only sad one time in the hospital.

I woke up, traumatic, all this going on, missing legs, friends coming and going, loving on me, praying for me.

But then I was sad one day, and my friends would always go surfing, and on the way back from the beach, they stop on in the hospital, what up, Shawnee?

You know, talk to me.

And one time I walked in there, they walked on in and I was kind of emotional.

They go, what's going on, Shawnee?

I'm like, I don't want to talk about it.

Like, no time, what's going on?

I'm like, why can't I die?

Like, why can't I die?

Like, I look at me.

Now I'm thinking to myself, what girl is gonna want to date me with one leg, you know?

And I weighed like 132 from accident.

I was down to 80 pounds and ICU.

So um, my friend's like, Shawnee, don't ever say you wish we had died.

You know, without you, our parents would disown us all.

I've always been kind of good parents, you know.

Secondly, we miss going out, you know, going out chasing girls with you, but most importantly, we miss going out and circling with you.

I'm like, wow.

And they all bent down and gave me kisses.

Shiny, I love you.

And remember, they left, boy.

And we left the hospital that day, man.

I cried for about two hours.

And that was the only time I was ever sad in the hospital.

And since then, I've just been full of uh I have a vision of just of a life and make my mom proud, my family proud, my friends proud, you know.

So I got I got I got a second chance of life, you know.

So uh it's uh I mean it's a blessing.

SPEAKER_00: I mean, a blessing.

Because because I mean, let's face the reality of the fact of it was a pretty massive car accident and it could have been worse.

SPEAKER_01: Well they thought for six they thought for sixteen days because my pelvis moved half an inch, they sat and said that this possibility I could be paralyzed because your pelvis moved half an inch, that's pretty far, you know.

And so um, you know, one of my best friends, Cece, who was behind me the accident, Cece Roberts, who actually um was a professional weight porter and we grew up surfing together.

Unfortunately, um, like I want to say seven years later or 12 years later, wasn't involved in the car accident, and he's now a quadriplegic.

And to the grace of God, he's just had a fear of uh not giving up, you know, and now he's actually um he's doing great now.

He drives.

So over the years of biofeedback, this kid has actually just took a tragedy and turned it into a life of uh bliss, you know.

And um, but you look at that situation where like it can always be worse, you know.

Like a CC Roberts makes you realize that's even on the worst things in life, you still can do it too.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely, definitely.

So now how did it work?

I mean, back then in in 89 when your accident was, as far as prosthetics, and I mean, over that time, I mean, I'm sure the technology has just advanced dramatically.

What has kind of been your your story as far as that goes?

SPEAKER_01: Well, it's kind of weird.

Like, you know, back before my accidents, I'd never heard about ampathy before, you know, it wasn't the norm.

You know, now because of the Iraq wars and you know, the you know, people losing legs and you know, arms, you know, it's it's more of a common thing.

But back in those days, like, what does that mean?

Having an ampathy, uh, prosthetic leg, you know, it's never even seen it before, you know.

But uh the technology of prosthetics has gone through the roof, and through the grace of God, it's kind of funny.

I had to my accident, I was a sophomore.

I started wrestling in high school next to the Okay, after your accident.

Athmax, yeah.

Athmax, I said, okay.

I wrestled on one leg, you know, and and so uh, you know, my you know, my first year of wrestling, you know, like with the picking teams, I wasn't one of the first guys to get picked in my entire life.

You know, you know, so I'm sitting there, no, pick me, pick me, you know, like I'm the one-legged man, you know, so I was the last one to get picked.

And so it was pretty sad.

But um, you know, and my coach, Rick Tribbett, was a new coach at Lyman High School.

He's like, Shawnee, no, I'm Rick Tribbett, I'm your new coach, and you know, I'm gonna be honest with you, you know, I'll be there, I'm gonna be supporting you, but chances are you might win maybe two or two matches all year because your accidents, you're new.

I'm like, wow, I thought to myself, okay.

And I'm thinking inside my heart going, oh my God, this is terrible.

Like, I've always been athletic, I've always been pretty good at things I do.

And so um I gave me the drive to work harder, to go deeper.

And uh my first year, I won 18 uh tour matches.

Um one for one on varsity.

So uh, and then my my my my coach Rick Trebbitt at the end of our season, like this kid, I know he was.

So at any year, he's uh he showed me that uh I have a heart of a lion, he didn't think it'd be happening, you know.

So uh so yeah, so but so Rick Trebbitt was one of my uh probably my all-time best coaches in life, you know.

Yeah so and we still talk to this day, you know, he's a great man because uh probably the best two years of my life wrestling, you know, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00: Wow, wow, wow, wow.

And so so you did that without a prosthetic at all?

SPEAKER_01: What it was, my home room teacher was Coach Hess.

It was his last year at Line High School as a teacher slash coach for wrestling.

He coached my older brother Michael and say, Sean, why don't you wrestle next year?

I'm like, wrestle, I got my leg.

So he brought in a uh he brought in a uh a video of getting Willie Sargeable from South Florida who won state on one leg back in 1988 or 87.

Oh wow.

So I was like, what's come on, let's do this thing, you know.

So uh so we fast forwarding um, and I pretty much got me wrestling that whole year, you know, and uh and wrestling to me, you know, it's it's one of the best sports in the world.

And through wrestling, I have uh gained lots and lots of great friends, lifelong friends, friend Jason Brussel, who went to Bishop Moore, friend Bryce Duba.

You know, that's my accident.

So kind of going back to the question about prosthetics.

I thought in graduate high school, the head coach of one of the party says, Shawnee Whitaker, this is Coach Rouse.

He's head coach for wrestling.

What's up, Coach Rouse?

He said, Listen, um, I have this guy named Bryce Duba, who has one leg, and he's a freshman, he wants to wrestle.

And I thought, wouldn't you want to do a little volunteer work?

I'm like, volunteer work?

Absolutely.

So I meet Bryce Duba, soaking wet, 100 pounds, you know.

And uh we're wrestling, you know.

So he's he's sitting there in the middle of the match, he's wrestling on one leg.

I'm in the corner of the mat, one leg, a little freak show, you know, the coach put things.

And so um, it's so funny where it's like Shawnee, when I get older, I'm gonna go about sex and make your free leg.

I'm like, wow.

I'm thinking myself, he's a freshman high school, he's gonna change his mind a thousand times.

Well, I get a phone call five years later.

Who is it?

It's Bryce Duba.

Shawnee Whitaker, what's up?

Who's that?

Duba.

What's up, Duba?

He's like, Liz, man, what's up?

He's like, Listen, I want you to know, do you remember that free leg I like problems shoot?

I'm like, yeah.

He's like, well, I'm a practitioner now.

I make prosthetics.

unknown: I'm like, what?

SPEAKER_01: And he's like, my boss, Stan, has bent in his new leg.

And uh talking about you, sharing articles and videos back in high school.

He wants to be one of his first patients and try to go on.

I'm like, what?

So I walk in there and I meet his guy named Stan Harrison.

He's all big, all buffy, you know, he's all jacked on, you know.

And all of a sudden, back in those days when your amputy and your stump, right?

You want to be nice and hard and callus, like about your foot, you know.

Callus means, you know, it's topper, you know, less operation sores.

So I took it, so so when you're at an amputy, you're very proud of nice hard, callus stump, you know?

Okay.

And so I'm sitting there, I'm like, um, and stands, like, take your leg off, stick my leg off, you know.

Oh, you licked my leg, he's all kind of dead skin, you know, hard and callous.

He's like, This ain't good.

I'm like, it's not good.

It's like, this is not natural.

Your stop should be in your baby's butts.

He's soft.

I'm thinking to myself, like, soft?

That sounds like a lot of separation and sores, you know?

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: He's like, I'm looking at Bryce, who's this guy?

Dr.

Gaborky?

This guy makes this ain't making sense because what he's saying, and it was was our truth, our reality in that kind of world, was just like off the charts.

Yeah.

And before you know it, uh, I looked at Bryce and remember Stan, I'm not getting emotional.

Stan reached across me and puts a hand on my arm and says, Trust me.

And that's been um probably about 17 years now.

My stump is like a baby's butt, soft, like a baby's butt.

And I never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever get sores on my leg.

I've done a half marathon before, mud runs, 5Ks, and my leg is baby's butt soft, softness.

And so my doctor, or my practitioner Stan Patterson, has pretty much took the whole prosthetic world of advancement and changed the whole concept of what prosthetics are and how they perform now.

So yeah, it's it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00: It's wow.

So yeah, okay, okay.

So so we okay, so I got some questions about this whole baby's butt soft stump thing.

Okay, so I I guess I'm trying to figure out why was your stump all calloused and stuff to begin with.

And then how I mean, how do you keep it from being like that?

Because I would feel like that would just be naturally what would happen, you know, as like you're on the ground wrestling and you know what I mean, stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01: So you know, because Stan's Stan Patterson, you know, my practitioner, his whole philosophy of life is that your legs should be natural, you know.

So the prosthetics back in the day, when you walked on, you know, they let blood flow properly.

I guess I'm trying, I probably best way to say it.

And so without the blood flowing, and because of the uh the rubbing of uh the prosthetic and your stump, you know, it became hard like walking around your foot.

If you never walked on the ground, if you never walked on cement, you know, you'd have soft feet like babies, you know.

So stands like your stump should be natural blood flow, you know.

And so he created this thing called a suction leg, right?

Uh uh which allowed the leg to blood flow properly on your stump, you know?

And so it wasn't tight restricted, you know, cutting off blood flow and whatever.

I mean, you're talking about game changer, like it was, it is like it's world renowned, like it's beyond life changing.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.

No, okay, that is so wild and so awesome.

Something that I just I never even thought about that before.

Now, do you have different prosthetics for like different, like depending upon if you're surfing or you're just living normal life, or just one that does it all?

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I got three legs.

I have uh a walking leg, you know, for my everyday life of use.

And then I actually have a serpent leg, which is a little more waterproof, you know, because salt water is bad.

And then I have the blade, the blade for when I do when I run, you know, I do the accident.

Yeah, yeah, I like to run, you know.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course.

So okay, so you you have your accident.

We then get into, you know, Mr.

You know, awesome wrestler.

How did you get back in the water surfing?

Tell me about that.

SPEAKER_01: Well, it's pretty amazing.

Back in my accidents, you know, you know, they came together and they raised all this money for me, and that surf contest for me, you know, ESA, and they actually raised money for me, and all of a sudden, all my surfer friends, you know, just came together, and all of a sudden, um, my shaper, Greg Geiselman, and his wife, Gina Geiselman, um, doesn't even even the doctor said, Sean, because your pelvis, you know, I broke my left female bone in half, an amputation of my leg.

He's like, chances are you might never ever surf again, you know.

I'm like, what?

And so I cried, you know, but um my friends are like, no, no, no.

So my friend Greg Geiselman and Gina Geisman, his wife at the time, walked into my hospital room with a surfboard.

Say, Shawnee, you ain't giving up.

And so um, fast forward after the hospital, I'm going to the beach, and my two great friends in gym.

Shin overly to have Thune Beach.

We're surfing, you know, we're hanging out talking.

I wasn't supposed to be in the water surfing because my left female broke in half.

I had a metal rod there.

And so I wasn't always healed yet.

So I'm sitting there all of a sudden we're hanging out and watching people surf.

I mean, I want to surf.

Like, no, no, shot, your mom will kill us.

No.

So, anyway, I go out the water and I'm padding along with my boy Jim and Shane and my boy Sal and Jeff on them.

And Jim and Shane, like the brothers, overly, like, hey, all right.

And my nickname back in the day was LittleBit, Little Bit, that was my nickname, you know.

Like, hey, Little Bit, let's get your wave.

So I remember paddling for a wave, and now I'm a thune, and I remember I kind of paddled, but it's kind of about a dump, so I kind of backed up.

So I pulled out a wave.

And I kind of gym and share, all right, little bit.

If you go, go for it, go for it.

So the next thing I paddled, I got on up, and I saw a surfing, my back leg slipped off the back of my board, landed on the sand on the uh bar, and all of a sudden I heard it.

I'm like, what the frick happened?

I'm like in pain, I'm crying.

And all of a sudden, um, we go to the hospital, and I actually got x-rays in my leg.

I bent the rod in my fingerbone from my uh accident from um where they had.

So my mom was freaking living, boy.

Like she's like, ah broke your jam machine over there.

I wasn't making the water, you know.

And I was like, oh Lord, and also my doctor, but it was kind of a blessing because where it broke my female bone and had like three faces, it created more bone marrow, which created more strength for my femur.

So it's kind of a blessing in disguise that happened that way, you know.

But um, I was like, I'm in trouble, boy.

My mom was like, I don't got him in the water.

I'm like, I'm sorry, mom.

But yeah, kind of so passport, you know, just uh going back to prosthetics, you know, it's just as uh POA, it's called Prosthetics Orthotics Orlando.

They got people from all around the world that come for these legs, you know, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00: Wow, wow, wow, wow.

Well, that is so wow, so, so awesome.

And what an absolutely hysterical story, though, about about this first time back surfing when such a typical teenage boy who should not be in the water.

Everybody's scared of mom, what mom's gonna say, and yet, no, no, no, let me out there.

And of course, you know, that never ends well.

SPEAKER_01: And mom finds out, and you know, she was a boy, she was a mad boy.

I said, going to my doctor's mat, too.

I told you, shot me, nothing going to be athletic.

So, yeah, I'm not much of a yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: So, so I guess so I'm curious then, what did kind of life happen from there?

You know, especially, you know, in terms of of surfing and stuff.

I mean, was it through once you really got using prosthetics and stuff?

Is that what really changed the game by getting you back out there?

I mean, what I mean I'm just kind of curious to know what after that point what happened.

SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, over there at POA, Stan Parrison, my boy Bryce, they invented the new legs.

So even when it comes to surfing, getting these legs, I don't let water get in the legs, you know, and it gets all kind of sloppy and, you know, flopping around so much, you know.

So now um, you know, I'm connecting back with Bryce Duba and stay in a POA, you know, some um these new prosthetic legs that they make for me.

It's just been a game changer, you know, where now, you know, back in the day, you sit there and you get in the water, and out of the two, three waves, your leg starts moving, you know, shits around, has water in there, you know.

So now we have these legs that are tight and water's not getting inside the legs, you know.

So um it's just a situation where it's like um, you know, the stand, my my practitioner, you know, he he surfs.

So we're going to Costa Rica, we're going to Puerto Rico, and we just sort of you know started surfing crazy all the time.

And before you know it, that's when um I heard about the adaptive uh surf contest that came up in California, where um the owner of Reef Sandles created a uh a surf contest for people with handicaps.

So if you're blind, quadriplegic, paraplegic, missing uh arm or leg or or whatever, we have different divisions for this contest where you can serve, you know, and represent USA.

SPEAKER_00: Wow, dude.

So so how long has that been going on?

SPEAKER_01: I want to say the first contest I went was in 2007, I believe.

Okay.

7 2016.

Maybe 2016, yes.

But yeah, because we're coming from California.

So it's pretty good stuff.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's so I'll so now I'm curious though, before because I want to talk to you more, ask you more about this competition and stuff that you're talking about.

But when you started back surfing, and even today, when you're just out surfing the beach, what kind of reaction do you get from other surfers when they realize, oh my gosh, that dude doesn't have a leg?

You know what I mean?

Like he's handicapped.

And and I would only assume, you know, you're probably putting a lot of them to shame.

SPEAKER_01: So yeah, well, I just, you know, I mean, now it's just so normal, you know, people go have your leg.

And I mean, I'm like, oh, a shark.

You know, why?

I'm just joking.

But it's uh now it's like, you know, I think, you know, in life, kind of with you and your blindness, you know, it becomes the norm, you know.

And so it's not different.

It's not unique because for 17 years for you, and for 32 years for me, it's the norm, you know.

So um the thing gets like um, there's definitely uh a side we realize that, you know what, you know, that hey, you live a life that don't stop, you know.

I think it's inspires people, you know.

So um it's amazing that uh, you know, with technology of surfing and with the love and friends of my of my family that I've given up, and I'm able to uh and surf is kind of like um like when you sit there and you're having a bad day or what's ever what's going on in your life, you know, work, business, relationships, you know, when you paddle underwater, man, it's just you and the ocean and God.

Like you don't think about bills, anything about your work.

It's like it's it's my outlet, you know, where it's going out, I serve, catch some waves, glorify God, and you know, it's just thank God all that I have.

And um, it's uh it's amazing.

Like um, it's yeah, serpents uh serpents is just the biggest blessing of my life to be serpent, you know.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, I can tell you this much is two, you know, the ocean, I think itself is is such a powerful force and a powerful being.

And and and I can tell you from my perspective of sitting on the beach, just sitting there listening to the ocean.

That's one of the greatest things that I love the most is listening to the the power of the ocean.

And I totally get what you're saying.

It it is you you kind of forget about that you're different than anybody else.

You're just focused on the here and now.

And what a lesson for for all of us in life, you know, no matter if you have, you know, something you've been going through or not, is just getting back in tune with what really matters in life, you know?

SPEAKER_01: And that's just it, you know.

I mean, just like for it's basically um, he's like the founder, I think, of Operation Surf.

And it's like, we now he takes these vets who've gone through the war at PTSD or missing legs, arms, you know, and he gives a whole four-day weekend of surfing.

So the people never been in the water at all, you know, and the quadrategics are missing arms or PTSD.

And we celebrate them, we love on them, we push in the waves.

And I actually volunteered one time down at Coca Beach, probably about six years ago, and he's talking about what the water of the ocean does for a person.

I mean, it is a life changer.

These people are pretty scared getting in the ocean, you know, trying to catch these waves, and all of a sudden, after the second and third day, the drop islands, big waves, you know, they're crashing.

I was like, or I'll be sitting there going, here comes the wave.

Oh, oh, oh, don't go, don't go.

It's about to dump them.

They jump on it, they go head over the head, head over the hills.

I'm like, it's gonna break your neck, you know.

But uh it uh it is, it's and the I wear like, you know, the healing of the ocean goes so deep, you know, it really does.

It really does.

Yeah, you know, even for you, even for you, you know, sitting at the beach, you know, you're blind.

But I want you to know, we actually have a person in the uh in the adapter subcontest named Scott, right?

Who's blind, who's blind and catches waves?

He's he actually a world champion.

He's like, he is a full blind dude who catches waves from the outside and surfts all the way to inside.

It's amazing.

SPEAKER_00: That's now does he have a some type of like spotter, or is he literally just going by sound and the feel of the ocean to know what he has?

SPEAKER_01: He has a spotter.

So guys out there went over the board.

All right, here we go, Scott.

I don't see paddles and maybe the other little signals, you know, but it's absolutely amazing.

Like amazing.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, that is so cool.

So now one question I wanted to ask you about you surfing.

So obviously, when surfing, your your back leg, the the leg on the back of the board is is kind of I what steers it in your power leg.

So is that your leg that you have or your leg that was amputated?

SPEAKER_01: So for me, uh when you're a surfer, you're either you're either a regular foot or a goofy foot.

Yes.

I'm goofy foot, so my back legs are left.

And so my leg's amputated, it's back leg.

So for me, I for me, I believe that um it's better that my back leg is amputated for mere fact because I have my knee, I'm able to still pump and catch weights, you know.

Okay.

Compared to if it's my front leg was amputated, well, it's harder.

I'd imagine it's harder to clear my leg up because it's so you know, so flexible, you know.

So yeah, so seven blessed that my left that's in my back leg, you know.

SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay, that's cool.

I was the whole time I was thinking it would be just the opposite.

So that's pretty wild.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay, that's cool.

SPEAKER_01: I have my knee.

So my knee, you know, I drop on it, you know.

So so so it's all about the clearance, you know.

So I mean the back leg goes through, you know, you can pretty go into breakfronts.

SPEAKER_00: Of course, of course.

So, so let me ask you this.

So, a surfing competition, like you're talking about this adaptive surfing competitions, are they set up, you know, any different than a regular surfing competition?

I mean, or I'm just kind of curious how it works.

SPEAKER_01: Well, there's a guy named Charles Ninshaka.

He has a he's actually a quad, he's a paraphernalic chick, I believe.

And um, he has a foundation called Stoked for Life.

So the contest in California I served about four months ago, he sponsored it.

Through the help of him and other people in the um in the arena, we are now a ISA, which is an international surf association contest.

So at Kelly Slater, who's like an 11-time world champion, he's an ISA world champion.

So now we got a first sponsor, which actually we'll actually be getting paid.

So if you come in first, second, third, there'll be prize money.

And at the end of the year, at the end of the year, um, our last tournament in California, there'll be a person who will be a world serpent champion, adaptive.

So uh it's it's so now this is this is all brand new as far as being ISA um credentials, but uh it's really, really big.

It's really so next year we'll be three stops: one in Europe, one in Hawaii, and one in California.

So it's getting bigger, it's getting bigger.

So yeah, so that's yeah.

So my friend Charles, who's um you know, um the owner of Stoke for Life, he's a big uh reason why that the uh dab serpent is getting so big in the ISA, so it's amazing.

So shout out to you, Shotgun.

We'd love to get married.

SPEAKER_00: I love it, I love it, dude.

So awesome.

Well, well, Shawnee, man, I just want to thank you so much for for coming on the podcast, for sharing your story.

And and I guess, you know, most people when we think of your story, when when I think of your story, I think of okay, the big part of his story is the fact of his accident and becoming an amputee.

But in fact, no, that's just the starting line.

The race has been, and the part that we're paying attention to is the life that you've continued to thrive in after that accident.

And and listening to you about surfing, and you know, it's just one of those like moments, inspiring moments that I'm like, you know what?

We just we never realize what we're capable of until we're thrown into the ring, and you know, we have a choice.

We either fight or we give up.

And you you've kept fighting, you continue to fight the fight, and you're just thriving in life, and and I just love it, man.

SPEAKER_01: Well, I say this, Kevin, that you know, you know, I mean, also I get uh kind of affirmation, say, Shawnee, your inspiration, and it's I am beyond humble, you know.

But you know, I'm actually writing a book, my girl Amy, my little ghostwriter, love you, girl.

I'm writing a book, and the book is called this, Kevin.

The book is called Because of You, I am Me.

The Story of Shawnee Whitaker.

And his book talks about how the I'm writing this book saying, hey, because of my friends and my family and like my community coming together and not allow me to give on up on life, you know, that's why I'm who I am today.

I am who I am today, not because of my own accolades and uh and decisions, but because of my mom, my dad, and the biggest thing is God, you know.

That's the biggest, biggest thing I demand because it was God, you know, Jesus.

But we can't be great people, we can't be inspiration to people, we can't be nothing without people loving, speaking life into you.

So when I tell people, you know, I say thank you very much for the affirmations, but I'm only who I am because of my friends and family and God, you know.

Um so to live a life that I'm living, I have a huge coaches around me.

I got a best friend, Jason Marcel, boy Mark DeSony, I got you know my boy Roddy Lackey.

These people are speaking life into me to live bigger, be bigger, dream bigger, and achieve more, you know.

Um and so um, like I say, you know, I am nothing without them and without God.

So uh, you know, like I said, uh so it's uh the books kind of let you know, you know, you can't be great without great people speaking greatest to you.

So you know what I'm saying?

So it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, no.

And no, dude, I I absolutely love that.

And and I couldn't help but think of of a motto that I created for for myself back when when I was going through the hard times after losing my eyesight, is I came up with an equation for myself, and it's exactly what you just said.

And that equation was faith plus family equals a life worth living.

SPEAKER_01: I love it.

SPEAKER_00: I love it.

And and for me, that was it, man.

Is that's what I tell, and that's what I share with people is I say, I'm like my story, what I overcame, I only overcame it because I had my faith, I had my relationship with Jesus Christ, and I had my family right there by my side every step of the way.

You know, and and so, and that's what when I when I listen to you, and and you you have so much love about you, you said it from the very beginning, you came from a family of love.

And and you know what, man, that's what this world needs more of.

You know, I think when when we can open our eyes and and see see people for for who they truly are, you know, not not what our eyes see, but what our heart sees and and in knowing life, not you know, based on what we see, you know, the world is, but what it truly is.

You know, that's man, that's what life is.

SPEAKER_01: That's why Jesus says, come as you are, you know, come as you are.

We're all broken.

We're all bozo, we're all bozos on the same bus, trying to the same destination, you know.

So, you know, so I say, you know, and I I believe that people want one thing, and they want to know that they're part of something bigger than themselves.

And you know, unfortunately, we have a lot of lonely people out there, you know, and we live in a very unique world, you know, that um oh social media is supposed to bring it together more separated.

But I mean I I love people and I need people where they're at because, you know, you know, no one's better than each other, but um, just love on people, inspire people, and just you know, just live a life that glorifies God.

And that's all we can do, you know, every day.

SPEAKER_00: Amen, man.

Amen.

Shawnee, thank you again, man, for for being on the podcast today.

I can't wait for for my audience to get to hear this interview, to get to hear your story, to get to meet you.

I'm truly, truly thankful.

SPEAKER_01: Well, first of all, I guess thanks, shout out again to my sister Terry, because you know, we have yet met, but watching your podcasts and looking on your on your social media, man, you are an inspiration yourself, man.

You are uh LC, which stands for life changer.

And these things here with podcasts, it's it's amazing what you do.

I want I want to acknowledge you and thank you for uh allowing me to be here with you today, man.

I love you, man.

SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.

Well, thank you so much, man.

And for you listening today, you know, I I hope you've taken something away from this interview greater than maybe what you thought it was gonna be about when you pressed play.

Because as you can see, the story of Shawnee's life is the story of my life, it's the story of so many people's lives, is is spreading love, making people feel loved.

And you know, when we spread love in this world and we we feel happy, we do have it, it makes the world a better place.

So, from the ocean to the land, from the sea to the shiny sea, let's just uh make this world a little bit better place by uh showing some compassion from love for one another, and you know what?

At the end of the day, when all else fails, grab a board and head out into the waves.

And that's the lowdown with Kevin Lowe.

I hope today's episode inspired you, motivated you, and excited you to get out and enjoy life, no matter what obstacles may be standing in the way.