OCEAN CITY, Md.- The waves in Ocean City were filled with hundreds of autistic children learning to surf on Wednesday. The annual Surfers Healing camp teaches children how to catch their very first wave.
For many children with autism like Patrick King, it was a day full of firsts.
"My very favorite part was when I went over the waves all by myself," said King.
Pro surfers from around the world helped children learn to ride the waves as a form of therapy. It was all free of charge.
The children were fearless, but for many of the parents, like George Mauler, it was an emotional experience.
"For him to get out there in the water on a surfboard and just be free was great. I was a wreck. I was crying. I was just excited for him, happy for him, but yet scared to death because I didn't want anything to happen to him," said Mauler.
More than 4,000 children participated in the program nationally in 2014. Woody German, one of the event organizers, said the program aims to shatter the status quo through the act of catching a wave.
"Some of them on the way out are just not interested in going," German said. "They're kicking, and screaming, and they're fighting us the whole way and then when they're coming back in you just see their faces and we're all standing here crying along with the parents, because everyone's crying. If you're paying attention to what's going on you're going to be crying."
To find out where the next Surfers Healing Camp near you is being held you can visit their website.
