Ambassadors
After a snowboarding accident left Victoria partially paralyzed, she returned to skiing and surfing. She trained hard to become an accomplished adaptive surfer on the competitive scene. Victoria has been surfing for Team Canada since 2016 and holds the world record for most women’s para surfing wins. Victoria has won four consecutive ISA Para Surfing World Championships and every contest in her division for 5 years. She is looking to progress the sport toward the Paralympic inclusion.
After college Ashley decided to go back home and give back to her community by becoming a teacher and a coach. Ashley taught middle school, coached middle school volleyball, and coached high school basketball for two years. When she decided this career path was not for her and started looking into nursing programs she decided to move to California. After being in California for 4 days, on June 4, 2018, her life dramatically changed after being in a terrible car accident. Ashley was in ICU for two weeks on a ventilator and feeding tube. Medical personnel told her she would never be able to breathe, eat, talk, or walk again.
Ashley then went to Craig Hospital in Englewood, CO, where she started making incredible progress. She learned how to breathe on her own again. Next, learned how to talk and eat. Ashley started becoming independent again. After returning home Ashley now goes the gym and physical therapy to continue progress as well as for mental health. She still enjoys traveling and trying new activities and sports. In November 2022 Ashley went to Hawaii for a surf camp and fell in love with the sport. She decided there she wanted to start competing. With the help of INDY.CLUB Ashley was able to go to her first competition 6 months later.
"Hola! My name is Nico and I'm from Miramar, Argentina. Growing up I lived an active and adventurous lifestyle: playing futbol, training and showing horses, racing cars and riding motorcycles.
My life dramatically changed when I suffered a spinal cord injury in 1999. Although I was no longer able to participate in the sports that I had grown to love, my competitive spirit and need for adrenaline rushes did not subside. Discovering new places and new waves has been a thrill. I have worked hard and am proud to be awarded the titles: World Champion, Latin American Champion and Argentinian Champion - but what matters most is the people I have met along the way. I am passionate about guiding new adaptive surfers on their journey.
Gracias INDY.CLUB! It is beautiful how you support our adaptive surf community so we can continue to explore and see what's possible."
Richard Julian was raised on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. He was introduced to surfing at the age of five years old by his father at Queen's Beach in Waikiki. He was inspired and influenced by the beach boys of Waikiki and admired their personalities and lifestyles. At the age of 14, in 1986 while walking on the sidewalk with his girlfriend and sister the three teens were tragically struck from behind by a drunk driver. He survived the crash with a ruptured aorta which required open heart surgery leaving him a T-10 paraplegic from his waist down. Richard has been involved in adaptive sports for over 38 years now and is a veteran athlete. He is the Co-Founder of AccesSurf Hawaii, Inc. the President of PureLight Racing an adaptive outrigger canoe paddling program in Hawaii and the Co-Creator for the Association of Adaptive Surfing Professionals.
Richard continues to compete competitively in surfing and paddling locally, nationally and internationally. Sharing Aloha with everyone and continuing to pave the way for the next generation of Spinal Cord Injured adaptive athletes by mentoring them and paying it forward as was done for him by family and adaptive athletes who help him voyage ahead.
In 2016, Sam faced an unimaginable challenge when he broke his neck, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. We met Sam early on when starting INDY.CLUB and stayed connected with him over the last few years.
Sam was a passionate surfer before his life-altering injury, and his unwavering love for the water drove him to stay connected to his passion. If you’re in NSB, Florida, you’ll likely spot him at the beach, capturing the talent of local surfers through his lens.
Recently, Sam released an absolutely EPIC edit from summer 2023, and we can’t emphasize enough how much all you surf fans need to check it out, especially if you call Florida home! He threw a rad viewing event in NSB, and boy it looked like a good time!
Sam embodies the very essence of INDY.CLUB, and we feel incredibly fortunate to have crossed paths with him. Beyond his surfing photography, Sam is a brilliant photographer in his own right.
Prior to this accident, Corey was a 3-sport athlete in high school (Football, Wrestling, Track); He excelled in wrestling as a 3x state participant and was named to the All City and All Conference teams three times as a defensive back in Football.
Post injury, Corey earned a B.S. in Exercise Science from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and is CTE certified through Bates Technical College. He currently is a 9th grade Health Teacher in the DOE Hawai`i. Through Nonprofit organizations like AccesSurf and INDY.CLUB, Corey now enjoys surfing, paddling and swimming - and is working to compete in the near future.
"I am a wheelchair user since 2008 due to a Spinal Cord Injury working as a civil engineer. I have always loved the ocean and I got into surfing as a person with a disability in 2016, thanks to my friend Juan Manuel Camacho.
Orion Owens was 22 when he broke his neck in a diving accident, shattering his C6 vertebra and becoming a full-time wheelchair user. Since then, he has discovered a wide variety of adaptive sports that he enjoys, such as sit skiing, adaptive mountain biking, and wheelchair tennis. He lives in Maui, working as a filmmaker and photographer. His mission, both before and after the injury, remains unwavering: to explore, inspire, and uplift through the transformative power of visual storytelling and adventure.
