Riding the waves off Nova Scotia, this surfer says she felt cancer-free

It could be the most beautiful summer day in Nova Scotia or the harshest day of winter; if there are waves, Amber Spurrell will surf.

Even while undergoing six rounds of chemotherapy.

"Getting in the ocean allowed me not to have cancer for a few minutes and just be," says Spurrell, 42, who was diagnosed last year with breast cancer.

At 27, Spurrell met her biological mother for the first time and learned that her family had a history of breast cancer.

Spurrell had yearly mammograms throughout her 30s, but her annual screening in 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic. On June 21, 2021, the Dartmouth woman learned that she had stage 2 breast cancer.

She underwent a double mastectomy 15 days later — and found out she wouldn't be able to lie down on a surfboard for weeks.

"My main concern was how am I going to surf without my boobs?" she says. 

All Spurrell wanted was to get back in the water. It didn't take her long to pop up to her feet. 

She had to make adjustments like surfing with foam in her wetsuit to protect her chest, but just 33 days after her surgery, Spurrell was back gliding across waves along Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore.

"I needed to be held," she says. "And the ocean did that for me."

Surfing as a form of healing 

Using nature — specifically water — as a form of healing isn't a new idea.

There are more than 50 surf therapy programs worldwide that use surfing to promote well-being, according to the International Surf Therapy Organization, a Los Angeles-based advocacy and research group.

Counselling therapist Shelby Miller of Stewiacke, N.S., says surfing can help people enter what's known as the brain's flow state, when an individual is completely absorbed in an activity.

Miller plans to launch Sea Clear Therapeutics next month after being inspired by a documentary about surfing as an alternative form of therapy for veterans dealing with PTSD.

"Surf therapy is pretty cool because it's not a lot of talking and a whole lot of surfing," Miller says.

She added that surf therapy can be an option for people who have a hard time coming to therapy and talking about their issues.

"It just takes you out of what you're experiencing and brings you into the experience of surfing," she says.

Spurrell considered surfing to be her personal form of treatment as she battled cancer. There were times where she didn't have the energy to paddle into waves or pop up.

But witnessing the sounds of waves crashing, inhaling the salty air of the beach, and feeling the frigid water splash across her face was the distraction she needed.

"I needed that suffering more than I needed to be at home laying on the couch," she says. "I just wanted to be motivated by the elements. They drive me."

N.S. woman uses ocean to cope with cancer diagnosis

3 years ago

Duration 3:51

Dartmouth woman Amber Spurrell was diagnosed last year with stage 2 breast cancer. After a double mastectomy, Spurrell has been using surfing to strengthen her body and mind during her cancer treatment. Will McLernon has her story.

Spurrell's road to recovery

Spurrell is currently in immunotherapy. She will be in treatment every three weeks until November followed by hormone therapy for the next five years. She feels her muscles coming back, but still struggles with heart tiredness and brain fog.

She will continue to use surfing to feel like herself again.

"Cancer is the hardest thing I've ever gone through, but the elements you experience while surfing got me through it," she says.

"It's still healing me."