yoocan - Patrick Ivison - Surfing with a spinal cord injury- Sounds impossible? Think again
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Surfing with a spinal cord injury- Sounds impossible? Think again

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

Patrick Ivison

When I was 14 months old I sustained a c4/5 incomplete spinal cord injury

Hi, I'm Patrick. When I was 14 months old I sustained a c4/5 incomplete spinal cord injury when a distracted driver backed over me as my mom and I were passing behind his car. I started playing sports when I was 4 and competed in rugby, basketball and soccer growing up. I started surfing when I was 8 after seeing the documentary Step Into Liquid. Jesse Billauer, who stars in the film, is a professional surfer who broke his neck on a sand bar and has the same level injury as me. I got involved with his organization Life Rolls On, which raises money for spinal cord injury research and provides quality of life events such as surf and skate clinics.

I just graduated from USC School of Cinematic Arts focusing on producing.

Over the last 13 years I've gotten sponsored, traveled to Costa Rica to film a surf documentary, surfed in the US Open 9 times and was one of the athletes chosen to represent Team USA at the 2015 ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship. I just graduated from USC School of Cinematic Arts focusing on producing. I interned at Funny or Die and produced one of their videos last year and I am currently working as a PA and Producer's Assistant on a feature starring James Franco, Camilla Belle and Summer Phoenix.

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