Faith from the Wake

written by REINA HARWOOD & JENNAH PENDLETON captured by SAM SCUDDER

Above Cole Herrington’s bed, in Seaside, Oregon, hangs a black and white surfboard indented with shark bite marks. The haunting decor serves as a reminder of where Herrington has been, and to where he would like to return: the ocean.

On a chilly morning last December, Herrington geared up in his wetsuit and a set of new surf booties before he drove to a cove with his friends — eager for a relaxing surf day after a long week.

By the afternoon, he was looking up at the ceiling of an ambulance surrounded by paramedics and with a makeshift tourniquet wrapped around his ankle. Herrington had been attacked by a great white shark. “I could have died out there. I could have lost my leg,” Herrington says. It was all a blurry memory, and a scary one too, he adds.

The attack, which nearly took his foot off, was a wake-up call from God, Herrington says.

In the year before the attack, Herrington had been dealing with personal struggles more so than physical ones. He alternated

between weekend partying and a quiet life of Bible study. At the time of his attack, Herrington found himself falling back into trouble, losing his way in life once again. “I truly do feel like [the attack] was God trying to get me back on track,” he says.

Since the accident, Herrington has rejoined a Bible study for young men. Travis Cockcroft, a friend of Herrington’s who was with him the day of the attack, joined too. Cockcroft was inspired by Herrington’s enthusiasm for God after his friend’s near-death experience, he explains. Their relationship, once forged through their love of surfing, has been solidified through their shared faith.

“I’ve never been able to connect with something as much as my surfing,” Herrington says. “It’s powerful being out there.”

By this spring Herrington had recovered enough to walk with- out a cast. On one March day, while standing on the Seaside shore, he gazed to the horizon — and smiled. He thought about surfing, and old times. His time may be spent on land for now, but he looks forward to the day he’ll surf again.