Losing my leg has elevated my life, says world champion surfer

Losing my leg has elevated my life, says world champion surferImage source, BBC | Cwmni Da | Phil BoydImage caption, "Anything is possible if you have any kind of disability," says Llywelyn WilliamsByNicholas BourneBBC WalesPublished2 hours agoFour-time world champion adaptive surfer Llywelyn Williams says losing his leg as a teenager elevated his life.Surfing played a pivotal role in his recovery and in the years since losing a leg after being hit by a car in 2011.It had been a passion of the then 16-year-old prior to the accident - and it was not going to stop him despite being severely injured while out skateboarding.In fact, he recalled coming around from a coma in hospital amid a dream that a surfboard came between him and a bright light "like you see in the movies"."It wasn't my time," said Williams, from Abersoch, Gwynedd.A friend asked him what he wanted to do while he lay in his hospital bed; he wanted to get back in the water - and go surfing in Australia."The rehab was to drive myself to get back into the ocean," said Williams, known as Sponge by friends. "As soon as I got back in the ocean, I felt like I was born again."When the board and you connect perfect on the wave, it just feels like you're flying."Image source, BBC | Ryan DeinImage caption, Llywelyn Williams (third right) pictured after competing at the 2026 Bright Sky Australian Pro Adaptive Surfing ChampionshipHis mother, Eirian Parry, described the "beautiful moment" his friends carried him into the sea as he continued his recovery following the amputation.But she still recalled with visible emotion the time she and Williams' father faced up to a "nightmare" - when doctors asked them to sign a consent form to amputate their son's right leg.David Williams told BBC documentary Our Lives: Beyond the Waves it was the hardest decision of his life "but it was the only way to save" his son's l...