Targeting Article: Surfing to Help Spinal Cord Injuries

On Saturday, September 22, I attended the Tony Mezzadri Surf Contest in Ocean Beach, California. A number of years ago Tony, surfing at the Ocean Beach pier, was paralyzed with no movement in his legs and limited movement in his hands and arms. The Ocean Beach community rose to help Tony and this contest hasĀ been held yearly since 1994. The proceeds from entry fees, T-shirt sales, raffles, a spaghetti dinner, and donations from sponsor companies were originally to help Tony with this catastrophic event, but now enough money is collected that funds go to support spinal cord research. Dr. Mark Tuszynski’s laboratory at UC San Diego has benefited from thousands of dollars of contributions. Advanced Targeting Systems has been a donor to this event for the past four years. The surf contest is a wonderful grass roots effort in which we are proud and happy to participate. Unlike last year’s monstrous ten-foot surf that was striking the bottom of the pier, this year there was three- to four-foot surf that allowed the contestants to have fun and show their stuff. At the end, money goes to a great cause in supporting work by an excellent scientist.

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