PHOTOS: Jessi Billauer

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - 774 hits

Penn State Altoona's office of Institutional Equity, Diversity, and International Student Services offered a presentation by Jessi Billauer on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 in the Pond View Lounge of the Slep Student Center.

Just as negotiations were underway to put Jesse Billauer on America's Pro Surfing Tour, a fateful accident on the morning of March 25, 1996, shattered his dream. Surfing at Luna Beach, Billauer was swept off his board by the crest of a huge wave. He flew head-first into a shallow sandbar and his body went limp. Billauer found himself floating face down in the water until friends pulled him to safety and stabilized him until the helicopter arrived. At UCLA Medical Center it was determined that Billauer's spinal cord injury was serious. His life would never be the same. Two years later, Billauer, a quadriplegic, founded "Life Rolls On" in connection with the Christopher Reeves Foundation.

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