Manhattan Beach surfer and surgeon Brad Thomas
Dr. Brad Thomas in his surgery center at Beach Cities Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.Photo (CivicCouch.com) Faced with choosing to become a surgeon or a surfer, Brad Thomas chose both Brad Thomas moved to New York City in 1995 to begin his residency in orthopedic surgery at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He arrived with a backpack, a skateboard and a surfboard. After finding a room in the Bronx he went looking for surf. At 27, he was still uncertain about his direction. The ocean exerted a strong pull on him. “I was surrounded by cement, dirt and heat and going stir crazy. So, on the fifth day, I walked down the street, found a car for $800 and drove off in the direction I thought was the beach,” he recalled. He ended up taking a ferry to Fire Island. “There was a freak two- to -three foot swell. I paddled out and for the first time since arriving in New York, I felt free. I caught a wave to the beach and was paddling back out when a lifeguard yells over a bullhorn that the beach is closed due to the large surf. “I yelled, ‘I’m from California. I can swim. Come join me.’” The start of his residency coincided with the start of the Atlantic hurricane…
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