Clayton Merritt was supposed to graduate in 2019 from his 12-week surf program for veterans. His mother died the same day.
After driving two hours to his hometown of Sumter, Merritt found himself overwhelmed. He turned around and drove back to Charleston to do one thing: surf.
“It brought me a lot of peace,” Merritt said.
That experience is part of why Merritt now leads Warrior Surf Foundation, a Charleston-area nonprofit that provides free surf therapy, yoga and wellness programming for veterans, active-duty service members and their immediate families…