When life throws you a curve ball, it's the way you handle it that often gets you through. And two years ago, life threw Emma Dieters a huge one.
The 41-year-old mother of two from Sydney's Northern Beaches had been experiencing debilitating neck pain due to a bulging disc for years, sometimes going for weeks on bed rest.
When it all became too much, she decided to take what she calls "drastic action".
"I'd been wanting to get back out in the ocean now that the kids are a little bit older, to be able to go surfing with them," Dieters said.
"But this neck pain – it was crippling."
In February 2021, Dieters underwent spinal fusion surgery to help her become more mobile and pain-free.
But the surgery didn't go to plan, and she became an incomplete quadriplegic at the C4 level.
"I have movement and strength on my right side; on my left side, it's weaker, and I can't weight-bare on my left leg yet. Hopefully, one day I'll get there," she said.
On her right side, Dieters has a lack of temperature regulation and pain and now needs to use a wheelchair or crutches.
Despite the outcome, she tried to stay positive.
"I was in ICU for six days, and I just kept thinking, 'I'm going to get better'," she said.
"I don't know if it was denial or just not understanding the severity of it.
"But I took everything day by day and strived to stay in the moment because I knew looking back was not ideal. It's potentially going to get me to a place of why? Why did I do that?"
However, it wasn't all hopeful thinking — there were plenty of dark days in between.
"It's not been an easy ride, but I think for the most part, I put on a brave face," she said.
"My kids have definitely seen moments where I'm not doing so great, but they are, when it comes down to it, the reason why I keep putting one foot in front of the other."
A lifeline in the form of a sticky note
Dieters spent four months in hospital before coming home to her husband Blake (Chook) and kids Jackson, 15, and Indi, 13.
A previously active lifestyle turned into ongoing rehabilitation and daily challenges — but a chance encounter while Dieters was in rehab provided some hope.
"I had a very kind nurse helping me out. She seemed to always be very understanding of how I physically felt, as well as mentally," Dieters said.
"In the end, it turned out to be Sam Bloom's sister [Kylie]."
Sam Bloom is a two-time World Para Surfing Champion and bestselling author of the book Penguin Bloom, which was turned into a film featuring Naomi Watts and Jacki Weaver.
When Dieters left hospital, Kylie wrote Sam's number on a sticky note and said, 'Call Sam'.
"It took me a little bit of time, but eventually, I did," Dieters said.
"Through that, Sam gave me a board to borrow, we had great chats, and we'd go surfing.
"She showed me that it's possible. She definitely inspired me. It was nice to have someone relatable there in the ocean."
Surfing is pretty different these days.
Dieters has what's called a "pusher" and a "catcher".
She goes down to the shoreline on her crutches, and Chook helps her onto her board. They then paddle out past the breakers, where they wait for a wave. Chook pushes Dieters on, and she goes for it.
"It's amazing when I get out there and get on those turns; it's the best feeling," she said.
"I'm just happy to be out there and feel alive."
Her "catcher" is Jacob Graham. He waits in the water to catch Dieters when she comes off a wave.
Graham is the co-founder of a company called Access Adventures, which provides support for people with physical disabilities to access sport and recreational activities like surfing, mountain biking and kayaking.
"[Jacob and Chook] are vital. I still can't paddle properly with my left arm, so I'm definitely requiring them at the moment," Dieters said.
Once Dieters got the hang of her new normal, she was away.
"Eventually Sam said, 'Let's go to the Australian Surfing Championships'," Dieters said.
For a girl who grew up by the ocean, it didn't take much convincing.
Once a dream, always a dream
Dieters entered her first adaptive competition, the Australian Surfing Championships, last August, where she finished second.
"I just got that drive in me, and I really enjoyed being out there in the competitive space," she said.
Next on the event card was the biggest stage of all, the World Championships in California.
It was cold and the surf was rough, but Dieters managed two high-scoring waves of 8.33 and 8.93 in the final to beat her opponent, fellow Australian and reigning world champion Jocelyn Neumueller.
Dieters was on top of the world just two years after she'd reached rock bottom.
To top off that magnificent run, Dieters last month took home Surfing Australia's Female Para Surfer of the Year Award.
"I probably dreamt about being a professional surfer, so it's kind of strange that this is the way that it's come about," Dieters said.
"But it definitely was a dream, so I feel like you can never let go of your dreams.
"Always make sure that you keep staying open to situations, and great things can happen."
Paving the way for more para surfers
Out of the water, Dieters is trying to start up the Northern Beaches Para Surf Boardriders Club to get more depth into the sport.
At the moment, they're piggybacking off the Mona Vale Boardriders Club until membership gets big enough to go it alone.
"We've already got double the amount of interest this month than what we did when we first started in February," Dieters said.
"At the moment, there's probably 40-ish age group.
"I want to get some of the younger kids to the sport, so we have a broader spectrum of people to draw upon when going to things like the World Surfing Games."
Dieters has relished the ability to get back into surfing and wants that opportunity for others with a disability.
"It's soulful," she said.
"I feel like it would be beneficial for their mental state as well as their physical state. That's definitely what I've found surfing to be."
'I'm not broken'
Despite already being a world champion, Dieters is just getting started.
She's been given some financial help from a well-known surf company to defend her world title this year if she makes the Australian team.
In the nearer future, she's off to Hawaii in May for the Adaptive Surfing Championships.
It may not be the way she imagined professional surfing, but Dieters is embracing the path by being open to her situation.
"By doing that, so many other things have opened up for me, opportunity-wise," she said.
"I've had so many people help me along the way — the community, my friend group, my family, mum and dad, Chook and the kids, have been my inspiration.
"Just showing them that I'm not broken, and that I'm okay, and we will soldier on.
"I want to thank everyone that's even been the smallest part of my journey because it's for those people that I've been doing this."
