“Sometimes I Want to Give Up”: Incurable Disease That Pushed Swiss Surfing Legend to Push Another Gear in 2015

There have been many determined surfers in the surfing world. But this kind of motivation is rare to find. Suffering from a rare kind of brain disease hasn’t made this surfer from Switzerland give up on her dreams; instead it has rather motivated her.

In a report by Surf Today back in 2015, Delphine Besson shared her story. She describes her love for the sport despite having a rare brain disease. But she doesn’t care about the disease; she only tries to focus on the sport. She has also drawn inspiration from other surf legends.

Story of her life

Delphine Besson originally hailed from Sri Lanka and was born in 1983. The surfer was adopted by Swiss citizens just a few days after her birth. She was diagnosed with a rare brain disease eight years ago that doctors said was incurable. However, the surfer didn’t give up hope as she still continues to chase her dreams.

“It’s crazy because I didn’t get the chance to surf or see the ocean since I was diagnosed this disease, but I’m sure it is [good for overcoming the disease]. My weeks are all the same: doctors, physio, physio in the water, and sometimes I want to give up. But then I say to myself: ‘Ok, you have to keep fighting, because if you want to travel again, surf again, play with dolphins in the ocean, you have to do it.’ I have no choice. Every day I think about my next trip, my next wave, and it has helped me move on,” Besson said in the interview. 

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Besson wasn’t someone who would give up on life so easily. Even if she was aware of the fact that it was an incurable disease, that fact didn’t matter to her. Because of her disease, she sometimes gets dizzy during normal activities, and everything gets tiring for her. But when she surfs, she doesn’t go through these limitations, leading her to believe that surfing may be able to help her mentally.

Taking inspiration from bigger surfing legends

Kelly Slater is one of Besson’s favorite surfers. The 11x WSL (World Surf League) champion has even met Delphine Besson and remains one of her inspirations.

With her rare condition, she even tries to motivate people who are going through something similar. She has become a motivational powerhouse for a lot of surfers out there. She also plans to take some surfing classes but she is pretty uncertain about her body. However, that’s not one to stop her.

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What do you think of the surfing sensation? Let us know in the comment section.