Teenage surfers eye Paralympic glory

Sitting on his wheelchair on a sandy Cape Town beach, Raemondo Lessing, 16, watches on as fellow surfers ride the same waves on which he learned his craft.

Having lost both his legs and arms to meningitis when he was only a few months old, the teenager is now one of South Africa's best para surfers — and is dreaming of a chance to show his skills at the Paralympics.

"I still feel it's a dream. I've been surfing for two years. I started off as a person who can't even balance," he tells AFP, wearing a red T-shirt and a large smile. "If I could be in the Paralympics, what more could I do? Because that's the only place I'm working myself up to, being in the Paralympics."