April Medina-Watson

April is a Goleta girl and has always loved the beach, the sun and the ocean; however, she also had a fear of venturing too far from shore into the open ocean.  In 2013, April's good friend Tara Haaland-Ford was named the beneficiary of the Friendship Paddle and April set her community organizing and fundraising skills in motion.  The initial plan was for her to fundraise for her husband, Alan, who would participate in the paddle.  She decided to learn to paddleboard so she could join Tara in her training sessions close to shore.  Soon, Tara challenged April to face her fears and convinced her and join her on the paddle as part of Tara's group of Warriors.  On the day of the paddle, Alan was shocked when he saw April dive off of a boat in the middle of the Channel for a swim.  April faced her fears that day and has participated in each Friendship Paddle with and on behalf of Tara since then.

April's husband Alan asked her out on their first date in 1990 while she was working at the flower stand on the Mesa and they will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in August of this year.  They have three kids:  Sienna, 23, is a budding hairstylist to the stars in LA; Chloe, 20, is studying mechanical engineering at the University of Utah, and Ryan, 17, plays volleyball at Dos Pueblos and sometimes let's his dad go surfing with him.  Their family has been cruising the Channel Islands for years with Alan's parents on their boat, Pacifico, which has also participated in many paddles since 2013.

In 2021, April began to notice changes in her voice and experienced difficulty swallowing which began a long year of searching for answers.  She began to experience weakness in one side of her body which led to an eventual diagnosis of ALS in the spring of 2022.  For those unfamiliar with ALS, it is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes the loss of muscle control for which there is currently no cure.  The disease has progressed rapidly and April lost her ability to walk and speak over the summer.   Each stage of this disease requires new treatments, new equipment and additional care.  Alan left his job in the fall to dedicate himself to April and her care and the family has added paid overnight caregivers to supplement the help from her dedicated family and friends.

April has always been the first to volunteer her energy and creativity in support of her friends and community members facing difficult times.  For her, pay it forward is a way of life and our community is full of recipients of unexpected flower bouquets, treats, words of encouragement and homemade tamales for the lucky ones.  Unsurprisingly, April has created a large community of family and friends who gathered quickly to support her and her family through this difficult journey.  She named them April's Love Soldiers because it is a better use of the letters ALS.

While she was struggling with her own mysterious symptoms in early 2022, April nominated her longtime friend, Chris Potter, to be the beneficiary of that year's Friendship Paddle.  As Chris's paddle approached and her own disease took both her voice and her ability to walk, April announced that she intended to fundraise for Chris and participate in the paddle.  She was introduced to Mike Wathen who has used his paddling skills to take people with disabilities into the ocean and surf on paddleboards and kayaks.  April joined the party at Smugglers and she and Mike had an amazing day paddling with her team of Tara's Warriors.

This will be the 10th year for April and the rest of Tara's team.  The magic of the Friendship Paddle is the love from friends, family and strangers that engulfs the beneficiary and their family while surrounded by the beauty of the ocean.  April has a deep appreciation for the power of this love and is truly honored to be the beneficiary of this amazing event