After a devastating wipe out in his life, Dries Millard found his purpose among the waves
Nearly two decades ago, Dries Millard was an eighteen-year- old jock representing Boland in Craven Week rugby for three consecutive years and excelling in shotput and discus. After Craven Week in his matric year, he received a bursary to study at and play rugby for the North-West University. He also obtained his driver’s licence, which gave him new freedoms. The world was his oyster.
Then, one day, the life he knew was taken from him in one traumatic moment. Two weeks after signing the contract with North- West University, Dries and his friends were traveling back from Stellenbosch where they had attended an open day. He was driving.
By his own admission, while driving distracted on the Du Toits Kloof Pass, he suddenly saw a truck headed toward him head-on. He swerved and lost control of the car.
As he was not wearing a seatbelt, he was flung out of the car. He ended up with a broken back. Only one vertebra was broken, but it was enough to leave him paralysed from his chest down.
With the loss of his stomach muscles, his core stability was severely compromised. He also came to know the joys of a neurogenic bladder and bowel as well as other hidden demons of spinal cord injury. His rugby days were a thing of the past…
The first few years were not good for Dries. He lost all confidence and faith in himself. For a long time, he agonised over why all this happened to him. What was the point of it all?
By chance he watched a video of an American paraplegic surfer taking on maverick waves and he became enthused: “If he can do it, so can I – to regain my freedom”. He started surfing with the assistance of a paraplegic surf coach.
In 2011, Dries and his brother Albert created the non-profit organisation, Extreme Abilities, with the aim of teaching children with disabilities to surf. The surfer became a surfing coach. Dries had found his life’s purpose.
Albert proved to be the ideal partner. He is endowed with loads of empathy, but very little sympathy: “I do not want to be in a position where I do everything for him.”
“I want to help, but he must help himself first. For instance, when we have our surfing sessions, I set up the necessary infrastructure to enable him to do the training. But where the wheelchair cannot go, I carry him on my back.”
Extreme Abilities’ vision is to use the sea to enthuse persons with disabilities; teaching them to surf as a way for them to gain confidence in themselves.
Their motto is: “You are only as limited as you allow yourself to be”. The sea is a place where persons with disabilities and the able- bodied can get together and learn from one another.
They took their cue from videos where war veterans with post-traumatic stress, injuries or anxieties are taken into the sea and taught to surf as a form of therapy. They decided to adopt the same ethos and apply it to persons with disabilities.
Based in Saldana on the west coast, they reached out to underprivileged children and teenagers as well as persons with disabilities for weekly gatherings to surf and train newcomers.
They also travel further afield to other surfing spots all over the country, such as Jeffrey’s Bay and Victoria Bay, to run adaptive surfing clinics. In particular, the surfing community of Victoria Bay were very supportive with the surfing clinic becoming an annual event.
Dries has also become a highly proficient motivational speaker as is evident during his motivational talk at Hopefield Highschool this year (2025). His urges people to pay attention: To yourself, your surroundings, your opportunities, and interesting things that bring joy to life. Always pay attention. If you don’t, you miss out on opportunities and the subsequent rewards of achievement and joy.
Using himself as example, Dries explains that by paying attention, he figured out that a wetsuit with full leg zips would allow him to surf with more freedom.
His ability to swim together with the buoyancy of his wetsuit allows him to function independently out of his wheelchair. This sense of freedom lifts his spirit.
Paddling on his surfboard and controlling the board while surfing builds strength and stimulates coordination. He realised that if he started to surf together with able-bodied friends, he could take on the challenges of bigger waves and experience greater fulfilment.
He did exactly that. But it takes acute attention, otherwise you crash into one another.
He then took his thought processes further and realised that if he could surf, so could other persons with disabilities. Dries and Albert gathered a bunch of kids with disabilities, taught them the basics and tossed them in the water. Everyone had a great time, nobody drowned and Extreme Abilities was born.
“Miracles happen every day, but if you don’t pay attention you don’t notice them and you miss out. By paying attention you notice other people’s needs as well as your own ability to help. That’s how your light shines,” he shared to the standing ovation from the scholars.
His journey after establishing Extreme Abilities hasn’t always been calm waters. In 2016, his world was brought to an abrupt halt. Two days before he planned to fly to the World Para Surfing Championships, Dries suffered the first of a series of severe setbacks.
He has a pressure sore that developed from a small scratch which looked harmless on the surface but caused serious damage internally. It put him into septic shock. This nearly cost him his life.
Treatment included a prolonged course of antibiotics. In 2018, he was finally healed only to discover that the medication caused kidney damage. One kidney had to be removed. He spent a total of nine months in hospital.
On discharge, he was so despondent that he pledged a year of silence to sort out his psyche.
The impact of the sea as the cornerstone of his faith eventually restored his zest for life and with the aid of his ever-supportive brother Albert, Extreme Abilities was reborn. By now Covid was a world-wide pandemic, which put a temporary stop to their activities.
Fortunately, post-pandemic Extreme Abilities took off again with a grass-roots plan and a ten-year vision that includes promoting surfing among people of all abilities on the West Coast, with a long-term aim of participation in the Paralympics (due for inclusion in 2032).
The current most valuable sponsors for the organisation includes Reef, which supplies the adapted wetsuits and surf gear, Vudu Surf, which provides the adapted surfboards, and the West Coast Community Trust, which supports local sport clubs on the West Coast.
They are also supported by a number of smaller, but very loyal sponsors. Proficient surfers have generated their own personal sponsors while Extreme Abilities sponsor surfers from poor communities who are unable to afford the equipment.
Dries loves spearheading proficient surfers with disabilities to knock down the egos of able-bodied jocks trying their hand at surfing. He considers it good psychology to get the able-bodied to take up surfing.
Extreme Abilities does not operate in isolation. One of their passions is to collaborate with other disability-focussed organisations to create a surf culture that fosters social interaction and personal fulfilment.
To this end, they meet weekly with residents of the Harbour of Wellness, a home for adults with disabilities, and Pilgrims Place Healing Wings, a substance abuse rehab organisation, where they do surf therapy in smaller waves and adaptive surf training.
Dries and brother Albert truly are passionate altruistic entrepreneurs who face up to challenges and setbacks to ride the crests of their waves. They are an inspiration to us all. Watch Dries in action here or view the highlights from the 2025 Adaptive Surf Clinic held at Victoria Bay here.
