YORK, Maine — A California-based nonprofit is teaching disabled veterans, children and adults to surf during its first foray onto the East Coast.
AmpSurf, co-founded by a Maine native who lost a leg in a car accident, held sessions on Thursday and Friday at Long Sands Beach in York.
Born without a foot, 6-year-old Shaun McLaughlin of Natick, Mass., was among those giving surfing a try. So was 13-year-old Jack Wallace, who traveled from New Jersey.
Dana Cummings, a 1988 Livermore Falls High School, helped found AmpSurf. He returned home safely from the Gulf War but lost a leg in a car accident in 2002.
He founded AmpSurf with friends in California and tells the Portland Press Herald that he expects as many as 500 people to participate in AmpSurf events this year.