Posted: 11/12/2011 http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_south_pinellas/st_petersburg/despite-having-his-leg-amputed-at-the-age-of-three%2C-sean-fitzbiggon-thrives-on-the-water
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A national champion surfer and superb kayaker has never let obstacles get in his way.
Sean Fitzgibbon feels at home on the water, especially when he is paddling.
“There is so much to see out here while paddling,” Fitzgibbon said.
In fact he just got back from a 200 mile trip in Lee County.
He and Jeff Fabiszewski completed the journey. A trip that St. Petersburg Limb and Brace helped make possible. It is a business, Fitzgibbon knows well.
“My mother was on a drug for morning sickness, I was born without the fibula in my right leg,” Fitzgibbon said.
Fitzgibbon surprises a lot of people when he gets out of his kayak.
At the age of three, his leg was amputed.
Despite being different, his family always pushed him.
“They did stuff just to make me feel like I was a part of everything and they didn’t baby me at all,” Fitzgibbon said.
As a kid, he fell in love with surfing, and today is a four time national amputee champion.
When he is not surfing, you will find him guiding tours for Sweetwater Kayaks because he wants to share his love of the sport with others.
“Survivors move on, victims get left behind, and as a survivor you have to own it,” Fitzbiggon said.
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