A Gold Coast man paddled 800km from Coolangatta to Sydney

A GOLD Coast man will star in a National Geographic documentary tonight after paddling more than 800km – 17 days at sea – to Sydney for charity.

Gold Coast paddle boarder Damien Ride has just completed a paddle from Coolangatta to Sydney. Picture by Scott Fletcher

A GOLD Coast man will star in a National Geographic documentary tonight after paddling more than 800km – 17 days at sea – to Sydney for charity.

Damien Rider, 39, battled sharks and monster swells for more than five days to reach Bondi Beach from Coolangatta in a bid to raise awareness for his charity, Paddle Against Child Abuse.

“I thought I could make it to Byron but I had no idea I’d be able to go to Sydney,” he said. “I crashed at surf clubs during the nights but every day I hopped back in the ocean and kept paddling.”

Two days into the journey Mr Rider said he was attacked by a shark while paddling through stormy waters near Evans Heads on the NSW North Coast.

He said the 4m beast ripped the fin from his craft and left him stranded in the middle of the ocean.

“I actually had to jump into the water to try and fix the fin,” he said.

Damien Rider in action.

“It was stormy and the surf was really rough so it washed me up on some reef and I had to spend the night on the beach with nothing but my board.

Damien Rider on the cover of Men’s Health.

“It was just torture after that. I lost all of my food rations so I dug a hole and slept under the board. It was rough but I got through it and kept going.”

Mr Rider said he was a victim of child abuse when he was six years old.

He said his childhood pain had followed him into relationships where he often turned to alcohol abuse.

Mr Rider, now a motivational speaker for the Paddle Against Child Abuse charity, teaches Gold Coast schoolchildren to break the cycle of abuse.

The documentary is airing in Coolangatta at Birch Carrol and Coyle tonight at 7pm.

The program will show Mr Rider’s Man Vs Bear style journey and discuss his past.

“The next trip will be in the Arctic Circle,” he said.

“Instead of fighting sharks, I’ll take on polar bears and penguins.”