CHEYENNE — Jesse Woodiel’s journey with adaptive sports started out in California, when a company called Ampsurf offered him the opportunity to try adaptive surfing through a homeless veteran program.

“I thought it was the stupidest idea ever,” Woodiel said. “I couldn’t surf with two hands. How am I going to surf with one?”

Woodiel lost his hand in a fireworks accident after four years in the Marine Corps. Though he didn’t think he’d be able to surf, the second he caught a wave and rode it to the shore, his perspective completely changed.

“It was in that moment I knew,” Woodiel said. “I realized that you’re not really disabled, you just have different challenges, but you could do whatever.”

Woodiel is now a peer specialist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, based out of Love

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