# About Kai Colless > The story behind the comeback. Kai Colless is one of the most successful young para surfers in the world. Born and raised on the Gold Coast, he turned a life-changing diagnosis into a competitive career that has, in three years, redefined the Prone 1 division. ## Origin: a surf trip to France that changed everything In July 2022, at sixteen years old, Kai was on a family surfing holiday in France. Within hours, he began losing function in his legs. He was rushed to surgery and diagnosed with a rare spinal condition called an arteriovenous malformation — an AVM — that had caused swelling and nerve damage. Major surgery followed. So did weeks in hospital and months of rehab. He came home to Palm Beach without full use of his legs. A year earlier, Kai's biggest worry had been which board to ride at D-Bah. Now he was learning to surf again — prone, on a wheelchair-accessible setup, in the Unassisted Prone (Prone 1) division. > "I had two options. Be angry at what I'd lost, or get curious about what was still possible. I chose curious. The water made the choice easy." ## From recovery to world champion in 12 months In 2023, just one year after diagnosis, Kai flew to California and won the US Adaptive Surfing Championships in the Unassisted Prone division — his first major world title. It was the beginning of an unbroken run of dominance: AASP world titles in 2023, 2024, and 2025; an ISA Prone 1 world title in 2024 and a silver at the 2025 ISA Worlds with a near-perfect 10-point ride that's now widely cited as one of the greatest waves in para surfing history. He's known for an aggressive, progressive style that has shifted the standard for Prone surfers worldwide — charging serious waves, pulling into barrels, and putting in vertical hits and aerial moves that most able-bodied surfers wouldn't attempt. He represents Australia as part of the Irukandjis para surfing team, and trades titles in friendly rivalry with fellow Australian Joel Taylor. ## Off the water Kai works with brands that share his values, speaks publicly about resilience and recovery, runs adaptive surf clinics on the Gold Coast, and is an active voice in expanding access to surfing for people with disability across Australia. He still lives a few minutes from the surf at Palm Beach. ## Quick facts - **Born:** Australia · raised on the Gold Coast, QLD - **Home break:** Burleigh Heads / Currumbin Alley - **Discipline:** Para Surfing — Unassisted Prone (Prone 1) - **Team:** Irukandjis — Australian Para Surfing Team - **Diagnosis:** Spinal AVM (arteriovenous malformation), 2022 - **First world title:** US Adaptive Surfing Championships, 2023 ## Want to work with Kai? Sponsorship, speaking, media or coaching — see all services at