San Diego Inspirations
by Ryan Thomas
Photography by Vincent Knakal

Every year individuals in our community perform selfless, generous acts of giving — some may end up in the media, some might go unnoticed, but all are definite examples of how one person’s motivation can make a difference to the community. Though so many examples made it difficult to choose, the following are three of those inspirational stories.

Rick Sutera was running the San Diego Surf Team and on his way to becoming a professional surfer when he was diagnosed with a disability: the talis bone in his left foot was dead. But unlike some, who might see this development as a reason for giving up, Sutera saw it as a doorway to a different, yet equally rewarding life.

Today Sutera teaches surfing to special needs children. His company, Pure Vibes, has gotten non-verbal autistic children to speak and kids with cerebral palsy to stand up on boards and ride waves. His classes draw crowds of onlookers on the beach in Del Mar, cheering like they’re watching a World Series game.

“My brother grew up with special needs,” says Sutera, “and I figured if I couldn’t do what I wanted anymore for a career, but could still get in the water, I could find a way to help these kids who are less fortunate.”

Sutera received a special education teaching credential and a master’s of science in special education at National University. He worked at the Boys and Girls Club in Carlsbad as the education director, taught in a special day class for children with special needs, and taught at a baseball camp in New Jersey for typical and special needs children, to name a few. With his combined special education training and expert knowledge of the ocean, he realized he could accommodate almost any age and disability on the water, something he had never heard of before.

“There’s no one in our country with this specialized ocean therapy background who implements specialized strategies for all types of disabilities in children from two and a half years old and up,” he says. “I’m all hands on. I’m on the board the whole time, customizing the program to each child’s needs.”

Being able to work so close with children and use the ocean to each child’s advantage has led him to tremendous breakthroughs. He talks about a young autistic boy, who is 160 pounds with gross motor delays, getting up and riding on the board ten times in one day. He talks about a boy with arthrogryposos multiplex congenita, whose joints won’t bend, but who now surfs on the board with Sutera’s help. He mentions a three-year-old boy with Phelan McDermitt Syndrome who couldn’t walk, whom he spent time with on a long board learning balancing skills, and how when the boy’s father returned from Iraq, the boy walked up to him and gave him a hug.

“I’ve got a child with cerebral palsy with a feeding tube in his stomach,” says Sutera, “ who is deaf and has to use visual cue cards to communicate. He refused to go in the ocean at first. Now, he stands up and surfs into the beach.”

The parents of Sutera’s clients are thrilled. “Drew absolutely loves it,” says Cori Durfey, Drew’s mother. Drew is living with a mild case of cerebral palsy. “He’s always wanted to surf, but we could never find anybody to work with him because of his disability. He started with Rick at the beginning of summer and now he can stand up on the board and balance. It’s helped his confidence and motor skills. I never thought I’d see it.”

But for all the hard work Sutera puts in, 70 hours a week at least, he sees little in the way of funding. He says he can barely afford to pay his rent because he buys the wetsuits and boards himself, and pays for his own needs and supplies. According to Sutera, surfboard companies are not quick to give away goods to programs like Pure Vibes, despite his constant pleas for help. Still, he says, the end results are worth it.

“What keeps my head above the water is just seeing the kids’ faces,” he says. “Just seeing a child do something they would never have done before keeps me going.” (www.purevibessurfing.com)

Madeline and Boone Pickens

The world watched in horror as the citizens of New Orleans pleaded for help from the surging waters of Hurricane Katrina. Despite debates about the government’s response time, eventually the National Guard, FEMA, and Red Cross were able to get into Louisiana and provide assistance to people in need.

But people were not the only ones in need. Thousands of pets were left to fend for themselves when the storm struck. Many of them perished in the rising water, but many more were able to get themselves to higher ground. All of them were lost, hungry, and in need of medical attention by the time the storm passed.

This is what Madeline Pickens of Del Mar, and her husband, famed oil tycoon Boone, realized as they watched the events unfold. “At first everyone was focused on the people,” says Madeline, “but then gradually we got to see the animals that had been abandoned. Pets are something we’ve created and adopted into our lives. They were abandoned through no fault of their own.”

The Pickenses and Madeline’s sister, Chris Penrod, wasted no time getting a recovery effort underway. While Penrod contacted Pam Perez of Saint Francis Animal Sanctuary and got the ball rolling with acquiring the animals, Madeline and Boone made plans to land their plane in Louisiana, which was not allowing in any normal flights.

“We were able to come in as a humanitarian flight,” explains Madeline. “We had food, towels, leashes, and other items for the animals.” Many people were thrilled to see the plane arrive, including the military. One soldier who had just come back from the flooded areas on a helicopter ran up to Madeline and Boone and wanted to express his gratitude.

“The soldier told us he was just out getting people out of the water,” Madeline recalls, “and a dog jumped into the helicopter. The soldier was excited to see the dog, but the pilot told him they couldn’t take animals. So the soldier had to throw the dog back into the water and he just felt terrible about it. He told us he felt so much better that we were there.”

At first, the plan didn’t exactly play out the way the Pickenses had hoped. Of the 100 dogs scheduled to be flown out on their plane, only 40 showed up; the rest were still at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales.

“So my husband called Lamar-Dixon and told them he was coming to get the dogs,” says Madeline. “He found himself a truck and drove out there himself and brought back 60 dogs. On that first flight we were able to get about 100 dogs out to the Helen Woodward Animal Center.”

Some of the dogs spent the flight strapped into the plane’s seats, looking, as Madeline puts it, so grateful. More flights followed, one even carrying 70 cats. All the volunteers on the flights, including the pilots, adopted pets from the mission.

The cost of the flights started out at $56,000, and escalated to $67,000 when Hurricane Rita hit just a week later, causing airlines to commandeer airplanes.

“It was an uplifting and sad experience,” says Madeline. “Everybody has priorities, but there has never been, and still isn’t, protocol for saving people’s animals. I felt I was able to bring attention to something that should never have happened.”

Conrad Prebys

Conrad Prebys will tell you he grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. He will tell you about a town of people destined to work in a factory and how he longed to escape such a fate. Chances are, though, he won’t just come right out and tell you that he donated $10 million to the Old Globe this year, the largest gift ever to the prestigious theater. That’s because the very modest Prebys, as he puts it, lives life accidentally.

But if you ask him, he will tell you that the person who most inspired him, who taught him there was a big world out there, was his high school drama teacher.

“For a guy who never got out of overalls and was destined to work in a factory like everyone else in my neighborhood,” says Prebys, “he showed me there were other things out there. He was an inspiration — the greatest teacher of my life as a matter of fact. In just a short period of time he had me wearing tights. He endeared my love of the theater.”

Prebys, now owner of Progress Construction and Management Co., a real estate and development company in San Diego, has stayed close to the theater community, both locally and around the globe. Twice a year he even flies to London for a six-day seven-play adventure. It’s no surprise that his history with the Old Globe is forged in respect and love for the magnificent productions he has seen there over the years.

“The staff impresses me. I’ve never encountered such a creative mind like Jack O’Brien. I even met Arthur Miller there,” he says. Admittedly, Prebys is a big fan of Miller’s and cites Death of A Salesman as one of his favorite plays. The last version he saw was in London with Brian Denehey taking on Willie Loman. Prebys says he was so moved by the rendition he wept at the end. “When I met him I said, ‘You’ve been writing about my family.’ ”

Prebys’ monetary gift was originally intended to be given anonymously, but he changed his mind. Playfully, he explains, “I found it’s a lot more fun to give some stuff away while I’m alive.”

The generous gift, says Prebys, has been earmarked to redo the outdoor theater and for other capital improvements. It will ensure the Globe’s productions continue to dazzle future generations of theatergoers. He sums it up as a chance to give back to a community that has helped him so much, stating, “San Diego has been very good to me.