Navy SEAL who lost legs in bomb explosion now surfs thanks to friend
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Dan Cnossen is a retired U.S. Navy Seal veteran who lost both legs after a bomb exploded while he was deployed in Afghanistan.
Dan recounts the day he lost his legs, "I was actually in advance of the rest of my platoon. This was at night in southern Afghanistan in a pretty remote location and stepped on an IED. The blast was quite severe. I was in a coma for about eight days and I woke up and I'm back in Bethesda, Maryland at a Naval hospital." He continues, "I told myself in the hospital I am just sick of being indoors all day. I was craving fresh air, craving the outdoors, and then nature."
While he was able to get into Paralympic sports representing the US, he felt there was something still missing. That's when he realized it was his reconnection with the ocean.
"When I surf I often-- I don't want to come back on land. It's quite nice to be on the ocean and kind of weightless and feeling the energy of the ocean and being around other people. When I come back on land and I change out and I feel a bit more disabled, but when I'm out on the water I don't really feel that much different," says Dan.
He surfs with some help from his friend Kyle Bucket at One More Wave, an organization that designs custom surfboards for wounded and disabled veterans.
He concludes, "Especially after an injury, I think it's been really great for me to get back on the ocean and reclaim that part of me that was always going out. I can think of waves that I've caught in Mexico or in Indonesia, same here in San Diego and I had the biggest smile on my face, and really makes me feel alive and-- and intense."
