How blind surfer Derek Rabelo is living his dream

SINCE childhood, all Derek Rabelo wanted to do was surf, and he’s not let anything get in his way — including being born blind.

The most inspirational story you’ll read today

SINCE childhood, all Derek Rabelo wanted to do was surf.

In fact, when his mum fell pregnant, his dad used to pray from their Guarapari home in Brazil that his son would be a professional surfer.

“I always lived near the beach and my dad is a surfer, and my two uncles are professional surfers, so surfing is in my blood,” Rabelo told news.com.au.

But Rabelo, now 23, was born blind. The official diagnosis from doctors was congenital glaucoma, and despite having four operations, he lost 100 per cent of his sight.

Few people have the guts to head out into the great unpredictable ocean, and the prospect of doing it without your sight is unfathomable for many — not so for Rabelo. Now a pro-surfer, he hits the waves head on, sometimes being pulled along by a jetski until the very moment the wave crests, and other times doing it under the direction of friends or family. But from the moment he stands up, it’s all about what he hears and what he feels.

“When I was 17 my dad gave me a surf board, and I was able to learn to surf,” he explains.

“I remember my first time, my father brought me to the beach and he pushed me over a couple of waves, and I was trying to stand up but I couldn’t, it was hard. But I kept going for a couple of waves later, it was the best feeling, I love it. I wanted to feel like this forever.”

Rabelo turned his dream into a reality, attracting attention on the pro-circuit when he took on Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu. He’s just made his first-ever appearance at the Hurley Australian Open of Surfing in Manly, where he also launched Nutri-Grain’s #LiveUnstoppable campaign. But it doesn’t stop there.

“I have made a movie about surfing in many countries, it is called Beyond Sight,” he says of the documentary which also stars Kelly Slater and Bethany Hamilton.

“I can live my dream, I make my goals,” he says. “Surfing is my job, downhill skating is my second job. I would love to snowboard really soon. I think just believe in yourself, chase your dreams, never give up, put your faith in God. Let nothing hold you back.”

And how about his dad, who prayed for this exact thing?

“He is so happy, he can’t believe it,” says Rabelo. “He is a really good father, and whenever I am with him we still surf together.”

As the official breakfast cereal of the Australian Open of Surfing, Nutri-Grain will host a pop-up cinema on Manly Beach from 12 — 15 February 2015, where Derek Rabelo’s feature film ‘Beyond Sight’ will screen twice a day, as well as Nutri-Grain’s new documentary on Derek’s story.