MATTHEW FISH: “I can see, like, the foam, the white cap, and I can see the wave, but I can’t really tell what form it is or if it’s ride-able.”

Dana Cummings puts Matthew’s hand on his shoulder. He leads him into chest-deep water, with the surfboard floating next to him.

DANA CUMMINGS: “You live with your grandma, right?”

MATTHEW FISH: “Yeah.”

DANA CUMMINGS: “Tell your grandma, ‘Grandma we’ve got to hit the beaches.’ Say, ‘Grandma, I’m stoked! I want to go surf.’ You got to teach her all the lingo. Grandma's surf lingo.”

Matthew starts by lying on the board. Dana Cummings and a couple of volunteers are nearby. It takes only a few tries before Matthew rises to his knees and rides a wave to shore.

MATTHEW FISH: “That was a thrill!”

DANA CUMMINGS: “You the man. Nice job, buddy!”

MATTHEW FISH: “Again! Again!”

DANA CUMMINGS: “Let’s do it again!”

And they keep doing it.

MATTHEW FISH: “I wiped out a couple of times, but as I always say, if you don’t fall once in while you’re not having enough fun.”

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Dana Cummings went to work as a software engineer after he left the military. He was a Marine during the nineteen ninety Gulf War. He survived two tours of duty -- only to lose his leg in a car accident in two thousand two. He says his feelings about life changed after the crash.