Sports
Night to Benefit Wounded Surfer
A night of music and comedy at Saint Rocke on Sunday benefits Nathan Gocke, a surfer who was the subject of the documentary film, "Floating: The Nathan Gocke Story."
It was a foggy winter morning in Hermosa Beach, where surfer Nathan Gocke paddled out to his home surf break for his usual Saturday morning session, amped to ride the four-foot swells rolling in with the tide.
To the experienced surfer, who had been riding since his early 20s, these kinds of conditions were the promise of a good time.
He never imagined they might be the kind to almost take his life.
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Gocke’s future was about to take a turn, after an accident at the break would snap his neck, paralyzing him from the chest down.
"A wave kicked me the wrong way, took me up over the falls and threw me head-first into the sand," Gocke said in Laguna Beach filmmaker Richard Yelland’s documentary Floating: The Nathan Gocke Story, which in May won the Best Emerging Filmmaker Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival in the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase.
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In the story, Gocke relives the moments just after the accident—as he floated consciously in the water, aware of what had just happened to him—and his journey through physical, mental and emotional rehabilitation.
The film follows him for two years, capturing the highs and lows of each, and delivering a message of determination, will power and hope to one day surf again.
"I can [overcome] this, because I can get on a wave," Gocke said in the film of his daily struggles. "It gives me drive. It gives me purpose in life. It gives me that extra push to continue in all aspects of my life to get stronger and better and succeed so that I can continue to surf."
With support from his friends and a specially designed longboard, Gocke was able to ride another wave 676 days after his fall, and has continued to surf ever since.
Now the community has the opportunity to show support for Gocke. is going down at on Sunday at 6 p.m. Proceeds go directly to Gocke's "additional living and medical costs that are not covered by insurance," according to the venue.
The night includes performances by Lou Giovannetti, Comedy Central's Skyler Stone and magician David Minkin.
