Surf Cat

As a teenager, Fabrizio Passetti was a promising Italian surfer. He was living in the seaside village of Varazze – Italy’s de facto surfing capital – where he was competing and honing his skills at the local A-frame peak. At 16 years old, he placed fifth in the Italian National Championships; the following year he was determined to take home the gold.

But Passetti never got the chance. A few months before the competition, he was involved in a motorcycle accident, and on his 18th birthday, doctors broke the news to him that they were going to have to amputate his right leg.

“Old Fabrizio died,” Passetti, now 36, remembered from that fateful day. “And the new Fabrizio was born. My thought after they amputated me was precisely that of not being able to surf anymore. I stayed for months and months looking at a white ceiling, and the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that no one would stop me from going back into the water.”

Years of rehab, infections, and searching for a suitable prosthetic followed. But Passetti never lost his determination to get back in the water and, eventually, on a surfboard. Finally, after finding a doctor in Switzerland who helped resolve the post-operation complications, Passetti began tinkering with his prosthetics to create the perfect leg for surfing.

His first stop once he had a working prototype? Bali.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: Bali Regional Surf Forecast

“The first place I tried surfing was Padang Padang,” said Passetti. “I tied the prosthesis to my leg with adhesive tape, but after my first wipeout the leg flew off. I didn’t give up and every day I continued adjusting it until I managed to stand up and trim down the face of the wave. After two months, the prosthesis was usable for surfing.”

Video: Frederico Vanno

Then, after four years of relearning to surf with one leg, and perfecting his prosthetic, Passetti scored a wave he never dreamed possible after losing his leg as a teenager. On July 17th, 2019, with a decent swell in the water, he paddled into a bomb at Padang Padang, swung his prosthetic onto the deck like a cowboy mounting a horse, made the drop, and pulled in before being clipped by the lip.

WATCH LIVE: Padang Padang Surf Cam

“It’s funny,” Passetti reflected. “[I] went to Padang four years ago, lost my leg and the other day, after four years, I was in Padang inside my first tube.”

But despite the life-changing ride, his goals in surfing haven’t been fully realized – yet. Passetti hopes to continue perfecting his prosthetic for himself and amputee surfers around the world, thus evolving the opportunities for adaptive surfers and the progression of his sport.

“It’s only the beginning,” he said. “In addition to ITOP [Infinite Technologies Orthotics and Prosthetics], which supports me, I am continuing my research which, thanks to these months in Indonesia, led me to want to correct some things for stability and flexibility. I want to be able to do the maneuvers I did before my accident. Maybe even do airs one day. Why not?”

Photo: Frederico Vanno