Written by:
Bryan Jennings
Producer & Co-Director
Beyond Sight Movie
I was blessed to be a professional surfer for many years and
I now work in the world of surf films and surf camps. We
recently released a movie titled Walking On Water. Two
years ago, a few friends and I traveled from California to
Brazil to screen the movie, when I found out we would have
a blind young surfer as one of our special guests. His name
was Derek Rabelo. He invited me to his hometown where I
met his parents and they began to tell me his story that
starts from humble beginnings, with a young couple
dating. As I talked with his parents, details about Derek's
story began to emerge. Derek's mom and dad seriously
considered an abortion because they were so young, but
finally decided to take a step of faith and have baby
Derek. It caught everyone off guard when Derek was born
blind on May 25th, 1992. By the age of 3, Derek had
undergone 3 surgeries in hopes that his vision would be
repaired. But after every surgery the results came back the
same. As Derek grew up he didn’t need anyone’s help to
get around his hometown, he somehow knew where he was
by listening and feeling, and his dad's surf shop was the
center of his world.
I listened as Derek talked about growing up on the busy
Brazilian boardwalk and how he had to gain a quick sense of
his surroundings. The more I heard, the more I was
mesmerized by his story. We all know how mean kids can
be, and I couldn't imagine what Derek went through as a
child. I realized right then how strong people like Derek who
were born blind would have to be. Derek had come to terms
with his blindness and he didn't let it hold him back.
Derek invited me to come watch him go tow surfing with big
wave surfer Carlos Burle. The waves were huge that day
and I told Derek not to go out, but he didn't listen to
me. Instead he reminded me to live by faith and not by
sight. I could not believe what I witnessed.
It was time to head home and on my 14-hour flight back to
California I thought about Derek and his incredible story
watching him surf huge waves inspired me he was literally
living by faith and not by sight. I told all of my friends and
family about my time in Brazil and especially meeting Derek.
I knew Derek and his Pipeline surf coach Magno Passos
were on a mission to travel back to Pipeline the upcoming
winter to get Derek his barrel. So while they waited for
winter to arrive, I invited Derek to come to Southern
California. I wanted Derek to be our special guest at the
Walking On Water surf camp and hopefully to introduce him
to professional surfers who could help him on his journey
back to Pipeline. What we didn't know was that this was
going to be the beginning of a life-changing journey for the
both of us.
Derek did inspire our surf camp and the next day asked to
surf with Kelly Slater. I laughed at first but he was
serious. So I reached out to Kelly and God opened the
doors and within 48 hours we were surfing Lowers Trestles
with 11 X world champion Kelly Slater! This was the first day
of filming the Beyond Sight movie. It has been almost two
years since I met Derek. The Beyond Sight movie is finished
and is currently in movie theaters and Billabong and the ASP
world tour have asked us to host the Brazil premiere at the
Billabong Rio Pro on May 10th at their contest site! The
world tour begins! See you at a showing my surfing
friends!!! For trailer and tour dates go
to: www.beyondsightmovie.com