Surfing is already a difficult sport without the added challenge of an artificial leg, which, amid the tumble of breaking surf, often gets pulled out of adjustment. Pivoting a prosthesis on the deck of the surfboard when making a hard bottom turn requires incredible balance and skill. We're just kinda greedy, you see. We're eating up all the joy because I thought I was going to be dead. All of the disabled surfers look up to Harpoon, the man who's been doing it the longest.
Today is a gift.
You don't know what presents are until you open them. Each day I get to open a new gift. Not a week goes by without someone asking Harpoon if it was a shark that nibbled off his leg. While he's often tempted to fabricate a pirate's tale, Welch said he nearly always admits that it wasn't the bite of a great white that changed his life forever. It was a Volkswagen that head-butted a palm tree.