After “Clearpix” I wasn’t sure what I wanted to see. Nothing was really grabbing me. While I was standing outside deciding, an old friend Cath Brandom (who I hadn't seen since last year's film fest) and her son Dusty approached.
They were heading to “Jesse’s Story,” a film about talented surfer Jesse Billauer who broke his spine surfing on the eve of turning pro at the age of sixteen.
I'd had my fill of surf movies and didn't think I wanted another one but Cath and her son coming up like that changed my mind. You see Dusty is in a wheelchair. I had to see the film and get his reaction if he’d let me.
A Q&A with Dusty follows this review.
“Jesse’s Story” is very beautifully conceived and shot. I'm glad I went back in to see it. Director, writer, producer, Mark Jacobs has created a gorgeous and inspirational story. He’d tell you that he didn’t do anything - that he just pointed the camera and that Jesse did it all. He’s being many-degrees too modest but to a certain extent he’s right.
Jesse Billhauer is an unflaggable spirit. He engaged in almost no maudlin nonsense when he was told he would never walk again. Going to live with his father, George, who has become his support system and emotional rock, Jesse went about the business of learning how to live in a wheelchair.
There were adjustments of course. George had to (and still has to) help him go to the bathroom - something Jesse calls “his program” and that couldn’t have been pretty or pleasant under any circumstances. George fed him, bathed him, clothed him until Jesse recovered some measure of feeling in his arms and could continue to do personal ministrations on his own.
Soon, Jesse wanted to surf again and convinced some buddies to take him out and help him lay on a board and ride the waves. He even surfed at the Hurley Open in Huntington Beach. Jesse and his tremendous will began to inspire others around him in the same way that actor Christopher Reeve inspired him.
When Reeve died, Jesse knew that spinal cord injuries needed a champion and he began to get help from his famous friends, like pro surfer Kelly Slater and Hurley team member Rob Machado, and musicians Jack Jones and Ben Harper. With these stout friends and Jesse's own celebrity status they began to raise awareness. Jesse started a foundation called "Life Rolls On." (link near end of article)
Jesse is still in a wheelchair but at the age of 31 has strong hope that a breakthrough might someday heal him and others who have suffered spinal injuries. His body might be traumatized but his spirit has never been injured and continues to drive him to push limits aside and rock the world.
At the Q&A was Jesse’s father, George, and director Jacobs. Both were delightful men who worked very hard to make this film a reality. Jesse had another obligation and couldn’t attend but there is no doubt he would have.
Please help Jesse and the filmmakers by going to the following websites.
Following is a quick interview I did with Dusty Brandom, a young man confined to a 
wheelchair by a degenerative muscular disorder.
I hadn't seen Dusty since he was a young boy in the late-90's when I worked at Mothers Market where his mom, Cath, and dad, Neil, shopped.
Back then Dusty walked nowhere but ran everywhere like the free spirit he was - a rabbit on speed, his long, blond hair flying behind him as if it was a flag of defiance and joy, I'd have to chase after him constantly to keep him from knocking people about. Even if we put him in a shopping cart, he'd squirrel out and go get into trouble. He was irrepressible then and is exactly the same now. That sparkling smile and those twinkling eyes are still filled with the same joyous mischief I saw years ago when I followed him breathlessly up and down the aisles of the Costa Mesa health food store.
He generously agreed to let me fumble through some questions about his condition and how he liked the movie.
OCSWA: Dusty, thanks for talking to us. You’ve been in a wheelchair for how long?
DUSTY: Six years.
CATH: Longer than that, actually - since he was eight - he’s seventeen now.
OCSWA: “Jesse’s Story” is about a surfer who becomes a quadriplegic and has to cope with a different type of life. How did you enjoy the film?
DUSTY: I’m not injured like he was. I have Duchenne muscular dystrophy which is a degenerative muscular disease. I can’t even lift my arms at this point. (Dusty can still use his hands to control his electronic wheelchair.) But I really enjoyed the film and Jesse’s positive attitude and how he did what he wanted to do like go diving with the sharks and surf still.
OCSWA: Did you find a lot to relate to in the film?
DUSTY: Sure. Anyone who has to deal with this sort of thing can. We all have good days and bad days.
OCSWA: What do you hate most about being in a wheelchair?
DUSTY: (laughing) A lot of things. But honestly, the way people stare at me. I’m just a guy on wheels. I’m not a freak or anything.
OCSWA: Why did you want to see the film?
DUSTY: My mom and I were looking through the catalog and I thought it would be interesting to see about another guy on wheels. To see how Jesse dealt with it and what he went through.
CATH: We come to the Newport Beach Film Festival every year. It’s really a fantastic time. We all really wanted to see this film but Neil couldn't come.
OCSWA: Dusty, what interests you? Besides girls?
DUSTY: (laughing) Computers. And girls.
OCSWA: Thanks for talking to us.
DUSTY: Okay. Just...one more thing. Everyone should support the movie and the cause. Even if I can’t directly benefit from spinal cord research, a lot of kids can.
Absolutely.
