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."

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.

Nova Scotia is getting its own program this summer.

Counselling therapist Shelby Miller plans to launching Sea Clear Therapeutics next month after being inspired by a documentary about surfing as an alternative form of therapy for veterans dealing with