Life Rolls On Foundation Press Release

[antiquity]

Life Rolls On FoundationPress Release
Donate to the Life Rolls On Foundation

Help support the cause and register for 4th Annual Life Rolls On Charity Golf Tournament.

Win a trip for 2 from Los Angeles to Mancora, Peru for 8 days/7 nights at Hotel Del Wawa. Ideally located to pick up winter N. Pac swells, there are numerous quality breaks nearby and warm water, too! Package includes round trip air on American Airlines from Los Angeles to Lima, roundtrip air from Lima to Tumbes, ground transfers from Tumbes to Hotel Del Wawa, 3 outrageous meals per day, and all taxes.Not included are beverages, extra charges for fishing, and tips.

Travel must be completed by December 31, 2002.Retail value of $1,000 per person...Well worth at least $40 in raffle tickets, let alone contributing to the cause!! Contact Quiksilver Travel at 877 217-1091 for more information about the trip.This trip will be raffled off after the Expression Session at the US Open on August 4th 2002. Click here to win! .$10 each or 5 tickets for $40.

The Life Rolls On Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that was established by Jesse Billauer to promote ongoing efforts to develop effective treatments and a cure for paralysis caused by spinal cord injuries. The Foundation contributes to research aimed at finding a cure for the catastrophic injury and provides funding to non-profit organizations that create opportunities for those afflicted with spinal cord injuries (SCI).

The Foundation supports efforts to provide hope for those affected by SCIs through a variety of recreational, educational, and developmental activities- programs designed to bring to the forefront of the media the immediate concern of finding a cure for SCI.The Foundation continues to support the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, as well as other charities, by raising money to fund more research. The Foundation's mission is also to spread the word of motivation and to instill in the lives of our nation's injured, that life with SCI, does indeed "Roll On."Through your generous support of the Life Rolls On Foundation we should be able to assist many more organizations and hopefully impact the lives of thousands.$100,000 Goal August 4th, 2002

[Chris Chappell]

Never heard of Jesse Billaur. Sounds like a good group looking to make a difference.

Everyone should be involved in fundraising.

Tomorrow I'm having dinner with a friend who wants to do a wine tasting fundraiser. We'll see.

Onward and Upward!

[Leo]

Article Last Updated: Monday, August 25, 2003 - 10:38:22 AM PST

Paralyzed surfing hopeful catching his second wave
By Bob Baker, Los Angeles Times
THE best surfers in the land were throwin' water, threading the needle and pulling off 360 rotations at Huntington Beach during an exhibition session at the U.S. Open of Surfing. The record crowd of 85,000 watching from the pier, bleachers and the sand acknowledged the showy efforts politely.

Then a twig of a surfer, riding stomach-down on his board, using his elbows to prop up his head and chest, took off in a slow, dull horizontal glide across the face of a wave until it petered out and dumped him into the drink, where his friends quickly rushed to pull him up and set him back on his board.

And the crowd went nuts.

"Next time you're having a bad day," the public-address announcer intoned in what could have been a moment from a corny'40s movie, "just remember what you're seeing out here."

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This was the latest chapter in the Jesse Billauer story. It's the story of a kid who wanted, in the worst way, to perform with surfing's elite. These days, at 24, he's doing just that -- in the worst way. His life is a struggle between mourning a lost boyhood dream of thrilling audiences and building an adult persona that inspires them.

In 1996, Billauer was a 17-year-old student at Malibu High School, planning to embark on a professional surfing career. He was surfing Zuma when a wave knocked him off his board and he fell headfirst onto a sandbar a few feet below the water. He couldn't move. Friends kept him from drowning.

Doctors diagnosed the injury as a complete spinal cord quadriplegic break. Billauer was paralyzed from midchest down.

He'd already gotten one reprieve. A few months earlier he'd been in a serious car accident and temporarily unable to move. Now at the hospital, his parents remembered what he'd said: "I'd rather be dead than paralyzed and not able to surf." This time there would be no reprieve.

George and Cecile Billauer's marriage, already shaky, broke up under the stress. They arranged for Jesse to live by himself with a 24-hour caretaker at the end of his senior year. He moved to San Diego and enrolled at San Diego State University.

He was, he could rationalize, lucky. Christopher Reeve had suffered the same type of injury but with more drastic consequences. He had no arm movement and needed a machine to breathe. Jesse could breathe on his own, move his head and eventually his arms and hands. But he couldn't (and still can't) cut his own steak.

Gradually, at the suggestion of his father, a chiropractor, the family set up a foundation, Life Rolls On, to channel donations to spinal-cord research. In 1999 the foundation sponsored its first celebrity/surfer golf tournament. In 2001, with another surfing-rehabilitation charity, it organized a surfing exhibition. Jesse's older brother, Josh, a financial adviser, organized the events and handled the money.

Jesse began, haltingly, making motivational speeches. It was not what he had planned. "I'd envisioned myself at surf contests and my little kid running up to me saying, 'Daddy, you did a good job,' and my wife on the beach. That's really what I wanted. That was one of my goals, to be young with my kid, to have a wife who supported me. That was my dream, and that got shattered."

But slowly, he began to realize that he had a certain moral authority when he rolled before a young audience in his leopard-skin-upholstered wheelchair. He was them -- a chilling reminder that even teenagers are not indestructible, that life is short.

Enjoy what you have, he found himself saying. Appreciate that you can brush your own teeth, climb a single stair. Hug your parents, even if it's not cool. If your mom wants to give you a kiss before she drops you off at school, let her. If it embarrasses you, get her to tint the windows.

If you see somebody in a wheelchair, don't be afraid. "It might happen to you."

He'd always thought about trying to get back into the water, somehow, but his body wasn't strong enough. Three years after the accident, the same year the foundation was set up, some surfer friends started talking about it. He could barely raise his head off the board. With time and exercise, his arms strengthened (although he suffered fluid buildup in his elbows from putting so much pressure on them, requiring surgery). It didn't matter. "I was beyond excited."

Last year filmmaker Dana Brown was working on his documentary about surfers and their love of the sport, "Step Into Liquid," when he attended a surfing-awards banquet. Billauer received an award and the audience watched a home video of him surfing. Without knowing anything about Billauer's background, Brown was instantly intrigued and asked Billauer to be in the movie. Billauer was stoked.

"I ask so many people to do stuff" to go surfing these days, "but if someone calls me and says, 'You wanna go surf?' that's the greatest feeling. I was real excited because before I got hurt, that was my whole thing. I wanted to be in a movie."

"Once I hit the water," he says on screen, "I have no pain. Nothing -- nothing -- compares to that."

"What he represents," Brown said, "is the fact that the passion doesn't leave you just when really bad times hit. It's probably even more important to be passionate about something when everything else is falling apart."

Jesse recently moved to Cardiff by the Sea, living across from the beach, with full-time caretaker Sonny Reece, who has been with him for five years. His parents admire his progress and maturity, tempered by the sheer difficulties of his day-to-day life. Recently, George Billauer was talking to some underprivileged elementary-school-age children in Malibu, who were waiting for Jesse to show up for a speech, when one child earnestly asked how it felt to see your child paralyzed. George started to choke up, and for five or six seconds the room was quiet, until he regained his composure and said, "That's how it feels."

[Max]

Quadriplegic surfer inspires competitors at ECSC
By DANIELLE R. ROACH, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 25, 2003
Last updated: 10:43 PM

VIRGINIA BEACH -- As the 41st Annual East Coast Surfing Championships wound down Sunday evening, the memories and lessons were already forming in its wake.

The hundreds of surfers who gathered at the First Street Jetty to say their goodbyes would no doubt take with them the vision of ``the phantom waves'' that rolled in like clockwork each afternoon, and the sight of ``The Pete Smith'' wandering around with a smile as big as his legend.

But perhaps the most lasting memory they'd take with them was meeting Jesse Billauer. Billauer, 24, gave every competitor a reason to paddle just a little harder and surf just a little stronger.

Eight years ago, he was exactly where they were this weekend -- ranked among the top 100 up-and-coming surfers in the world -- and his dream of joining the pro tour was as close as the tip of his longboard.

But on the morning of March 25, 1996, Mother Nature, which had always been an ally to Billauer, thrust him into a sand bar off the coast of Malibu, Calif.

Billauer was left a quadriplegic, paralyzed below his mid-chest, with limited use of his hands and fingers.

Nonetheless, fellow surfers and spectators alike formed long lines just to meet him and get his autograph and maybe even a lesson in life.

He's unfazed, uninhibited, and ready to jump on his board every chance he gets.

``There's something about the water, it just heals the pain,'' he said quietly. ``Every time I'm out in the water, I feel lucky just to be there.''

Over the ECSC weekend, with an attitude cooler than the incoming waves, he patiently signed photos of himself, surfing for the movie ``Step Into Liquid.''

He answered questions from inquisitive youngsters, and offered inspiration to admirers.

``You've got to make the most of whatever you've got, no limitations, no what-ifs,'' he said. ``You can have just as much fun on a small wave as a big one and you can do it despite any obstacles. You've got to make the most of it, every day.''

He does just that, surfing daily near his home just outside San Diego.

His philosophy forms the premise of his nonprofit organization, aptly named ``Life Rolls On.'' With a series of motivational speaking engagements, a clothing line, and an appearance in ``Step Into Liquid,'' he hopes to raise money and awareness for spinal cord injury research.

``I'd love to be the young Christopher Reeve, because he's done so much to raise awareness of spinal cord injuries,'' Billauer said. ``It's not what I had planned, but it's the path I'm on, and as long as I'm surfing, then I'll be making the most of it.''


Reach Danielle R. Roach at 446-2536 or danielle.roach@pilotonline.com


http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories...8799&ran=41178


© 2003 HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com

[Max]

Jesse Billauer's inspirational speech challenges students at a Huntington Beach High assembly


By Mike Sciacca, Independent


Jesse Billauer appeared laid back when he addressed students at a jam-packed Huntington Beach High auditorium Tuesday, but his easy-going attitude and surfing slang belied his hard-hitting, inspiring message.

The 24-year-old, a resident of Marina del Rey, was at the high school to talk about how life has evolved since a surfing accident seven years ago paralyzed him from the chest down.

His delivery gained the attention of a school synonymous with surfing success by relating his recent life experience to his love of the sport, but Billauer's message transcended surfing.

"It's about what's inside of you," he told an enthusiastic crowd.

The audience was clearly listening.

"I'm just happy that we were able to present someone like Jesse to our student body," said Andy Verdone, a teacher and surf coach at Huntington Beach High School who, along with science teacher Tom Gregory, helped bring Billauer to the school.

"He was very informative and very inspirational. The kids really listened and they dug it. This, probably, is the best assembly we've had since I've been here. Jesse's one of the most courageous surfers in the world."

Billauer began to give motivational speeches in 1999, offering inspiring messages of following one's dreams.

He has done, on average, 20 appearances a year, his father, George, said.

"I know that kids at this age think they are invincible. I know I did," Jesse Billauer said. "They don't know much about paralysis, either, and I hope by my talking to them, it will give them some insight about living their dreams no matter what happens. I know I once was in their situation."

Billauer said he took up surfing at age 9 and became a sponsored surfer by the time he was 12.

A talented up-and-coming pro surfer with a promising future, he was surfing a popular spot, Drain Pipes, along Zuma Beach, when he broke his neck riding a 6- to 8-foot barrel.

A wave hit Billauer in the back and sent him head-first into the water.

The then-17-year-old junior at Malibu High hit his head on the bottom of a sand bar.

"So many things went through my head and I almost dropped out of school," he said of the accident. "But I had a lot of people rally around me and give me great support."

Billauer went on to be crowned homecoming king at Malibu High his senior year, earned a degree at San Diego State University and established his own foundation, Life Rolls On.

The nonprofit organization promotes ongoing efforts to develop effective treatments and a cure for paralysis caused by spinal cord injuries.

It also contributes to research: the foundation supports the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation and several other charities by raising money to fund more research.

Billauer, who owns his own clothing line, continues to surf.

Last summer at the Huntington Beach Pier, he drew an emotional standing ovation after surfing the U.S. Open.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/in...,3964641.story

[Max]

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