“I learned to be thankful for the second chance God gave. A second chance to get to know Him better and to share Him with other people.”
I grew up with 2 siblings in East London during post apartheid South Africa. Political and family issues caused my parents to divorce when I was 10 years old which helped feed depression, suicidal thoughts and anger in my heart. I was told that God loved me and cared about me, but didn’t believe it because I never experienced it. I grew up fighting almost everyday and one day at the age of 10 I even put my dads pistol to my head because I hated my life and felt hopeless and worthless. I thought I wouldnât amount to much in life so I wanted to end it!
I began to surf at age 13 and met surfers who were Christians. They invited me to Christian Surfers meetings and influenced me in a good way. I tried to change and be a better person, but I still felt dead, empty and depressed inside, even though I tried to be a good person or do good deeds.
At the age of 15, while surfing infamous Nahoon Reef, I was attacked by two 4 metre great white sharks while paddling for a wave. I never saw them coming. It was a sneak attack where one shark came from the left and the other from the right. The shark on the left hit me hard from below into the sky, causing me to flip around and then it bit my surfboard and my hand and dragged me under water with it. The shark on my right missed me because the other one got me first.
It happened so quickly that I never knew what was happening. Everything slowed down and I thought I was dreaming. The shark let go of me while under water and we stared at each other face to face for a few moments. Its mouth was open and we had proper eye contact. It was intense! It then swam away from me. I swam to the surface of the water and saw all the other surfers scrambling to catch the last few waves to shore. I was confused and still had no idea what was happening, until I jumped onto my surfboard and saw my fingers hanging off my right hand. I realised that what I thought was a dream was a nightmare that became reality!
IMAGE: KRISTIN FOLSLAND OLSEN
I was left alone 100 metres offshore and started paddling to the beach looking for a wave to catch. The ocean went flat! There were no waves and I was scared and panicking. I looked around and waited for and expected the sharks to come finish me off and eat me alive. I was scared and felt so hopeless and alone and had no idea how I would survive. I thought I was going to die until a thought came into my head. Pray! I began to pray and cry out to Jesus, saying: âJesus, if you are real, please protect me and get me away from the sharks and back to shore safely.â After I prayed I felt a peace come upon me and calmed me down. I knew I was going to make it back safely! All of a sudden a wave came and I caught it!
I got to shore safely, was rushed to hospital and woke up alive and thankful the next day!
I learned to be thankful for the second chance God gave. A second chance to get to know Him better and to share Him with other people. I remembered the next morning while lying in my hospital bed, thinking about the shark attack..
I prayed again and said, Jesus, can you please help me with all my anger, depression, suicidal thoughts and problems eating me from the inside. These were mental, spiritual and emotional shark attacks that I needed saving from too.
Jesus saved me from those sharks as well and replaced them with peace, joy, hope, love and purpose. From that day onwards all I wanted to do was to get to know God more. He showed me grace and mercy when I did not deserve it. This was true love!!! I knew that God saved me for a reason and I had to share this good news and love with other surfers. That is how I became a surf coach. I felt God calling me to use surfing and surf coaching as a tool to connect with people and love people. And just the way they have tasted how good surfing is, to taste and see that God is good! I have learned that the most satisfying thing ever is to walk in an intimate relationship with God on a daily basis, depending on Him and learning from Him.
“O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good;
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.”
