Help Us Get to the Para Surfing World Championships in California, the home of surfing

Hi, I’m Zoe a below-knee amputee, surfer and 2024 World Surfing Champion.

My story goes back quite a few years but I am not here for sympathy, if anything it’s the opposite. I lost my lower leg back in 2015 when I was travelling as a passenger in my friends car and another vehicle lost control and hit us. Little did I know a few years later I would discover surfing and it would subsequently take over my life. I was more surprised than anyone when I became the Surfing World Champion in 2024. After loosing my leg it seemed life dealt me the biggest challenge I had ever faced, but it also presented me with the gift of surfing. Now because of this I have a new challenge and the goal of becoming the World Champion once again.

So, in November I am heading back to the ISA World Para Surfing Championships in California with the sole purpose of winning back the title of World Champion.

I’ve spent the last year training as hard as possible, spending as much time surfing as possible and generally trying to convince my body that landing on a surfboard and getting repeatedly smashed by the ocean is a sensible idea.

Being a surfer is not easy, but when you only have one leg to stand on it defiantly makes its slightly more challenging. To over come these challenges I have been blessed to work with and become friends with some of the most amazing people. From the team behind developing my prosthetic limb to my surf coach Melissa Reid.

Melissa Reid herself is a three-time Surfing World Champion and total inspiration to me. As a visually impaired surfer, Melissa truly understands both the physical and the emotional challenges that surfing demands. Plus she knows when to tell me to stop moaning and get on with it. Between us, we make a pretty unconventional team. We are both stubborn, both competitive and absolutely determined to give this everything we have to bring home the title. The term girl power is a little cliche, but with Melissa's experience and my drive we certainly have the power to make it happen.

Being self employed I have invested every spare penny and ounce of energy into myself and making it to California to compete. We need to cover the costs for two people, which include flights, accommodation (at the very expensive surf resort where the event is happening), training fees, coaching and all the other costs involved in competing at an international level. Unfortunately these accumulated costs far exceed the expense we are able to fund ourselves.

So it’s with a heavy heart that we are in a position that we need to ask for help, and extend our dream of winning a world title to everyone. It is never easy to do this and as someone that has worked deeply as an individual there is a real vulnerability to creating a funding platform. But the bigger picture is more than being about just me. I have the opportunity to win a World Title, but this will hopefully inspire other people who have experienced hardship to go and live their dreams.

Every donation will help get us to California to compete in the ISA games. So the more people that can donate and ride this wave, the more opportunity there is for me to ride the winning wave. Then I can bring home the ISA Para Surfing World Championship medal for everyone to be a part of.