Freedom Wake Park hosts an Orlando clinic on ‘adaptive wakesurfing’ for amputees

When I woke up this morning, I did not expect to be uttering the sentence, “Wow, this prosthetics clinic is really cool,” but here we are.

Hanger Clinic, a national company with six Orlando-area locations, hosts an event tomorrow on wakesurfing for amputees at Freedom Wake Park in Orlando.

More than 30 “adaptive wakesurfers” will be demonstrating how to wakesurf with limb loss or other physical challenges, at the second annual Orlando Adaptive Wakesurfing Clinic. Participants will learn exercises to improve balance and stability, as well as the basics of wakesurfing, from professional instructors, including a pro wakesurfing athlete, Lexi Youngberg, who is also a below-knee amputee. The clinic is open to all ages and experience levels.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to try out the latest prosthetic devices with guidance from certified prosthetists and orthotists. This Orlando wakesurfing clinic is the first stop of a nationwide tour bringing adaptive sports demos and workshops to Miami, Michigan, Colorado and North Carolina.

The Orlando Adaptive Wakesurfing Clinic happens Saturday, June 8, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Freedom Wake Park, 7200 Lake Ellenor Drive.

Hanger Clinic was founded in 1861 by the first amputee of the Civil War, and operates approximately 800 patient care clinics nationwide, including 47 in Florida.

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This article appears in Jun 5-11, 2019.