How Did Surfing Help Steven Kotler's Lyme Disease?

Steven Kotler was bitten by a tick on a walk through an arboretum at a friend's wedding on Long Island, then spent three years in bed. He was one of the first cases in California, so nobody knew what was wrong or how to fix it. Doctors kept him on doxycycline for a year and a half, until his stomach lining bled, and then told him they were done. He was functional about 10 percent of the time. His memory was gone, and he could not walk across a room.

A friend refused to leave until he went to the ocean. He expected to sit in the sun. Less than 30 seconds after a wave came, he stood up, time slowed, his head cleared, and the pain was gone. He caught four more waves, then could not get out of bed for 14 days. On day 15 he could walk again. About six months of surfing took him from about 10 percent function to about 80 percent.