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4 stouffville suntribune saturday april 14 2007 llslisilll cgs jeff karram pursues his dream in the waves of ecuador his surfing story airs on oln tomorrow evening suburban stouffville secondary grad tries pro surfing and takes reality show viewers for the ride by jim mason staff writer whats a guy from the decidedly inland markham and stouffville doing trying to become a pro surfer that would be the story of jeff karram captured in breakbound a twohour tv special featured on oln this spring it airs tomor row at 8 pm the cameras captured mr karram 26 on a two- year quest to ecuador to make his lifelong dream come true that would be earning a spot in a profes sional competition in the south american surfing paradise and he gave up what looked like the allcanadian dreamy including a thriving internet business partnership devoted girlfriend and fine home to try and hang 10 for a living and he gave up what looked like the allcanadi an dream including a thriving internet business partnership devoted girl friend and fine home to try and hang 10 for a living go figure this preoccupation with the surfing life started when he was in grade 7 at stouf fville christian school his markham family was on vacation in florida and jeff was sizing up surfboards in a seaside shop his parents won that battle jeff settled for the little skimboard he would soon master six years later while in mexico he purchased a big board i made a conscious decision to making surfing a part of my life he said right up through janu ary 2004 when the filming of his surf odyssey begins he left 150 clients and his girl in frozen toronto for his shot i had do it he says strength in his voice i had to pursue the dream full marks for convic tion jeff once in ecuador he met randy hood an american surf hostel owner who took him under his wing two weeks into training he took a major spill resulting in an ear injury that threat ened to put an end to his dream he was later forced to take five months and go under the knife he suf fered permanent hearing loss and must get his ears flushed every two months y back in the gta this month his doctor reviewed the work and didnt exactly give a glowing endorse ment of rural south ameri can surgical practices it got worse while recu perating his toronto girl friend ended their relation ship finally back on his immste we have amazing womens fashions shoes accessories for any occasion all at jeff karram in action during his twoyear escape to surf heav en he launched a web site to help others with their dreams board he worked with a coach and finally earned a spot in a professional com petition a surfing success jeff wont go that far but he does call it an adventure one hes willing to share on the small screen and wouldnt his old high school buddies work ing 9to5 paying into rrsps and shovelling snow be envious they probably would nt envy everything i was doing he said when you step out like this youre in nomans land its not per fect but not all victories are found on a beach in the caribbean or mexico the kid from markham met ecuadorian tv star and supermodel maria- teresa guerrero during his jaunt shes only one of the biggest names and most recognized faces in the land within months the two were married in a televised ceremony theyre featured on magazine covers and inter views they both get stopped for autographs hes in a rock band in ecuador they opened at a date in argentina in front of 2000 people theyve drawn 500 as headliners a demo is in the works with hopes of an album they probably wouldnt envy everything i was doing when you step out like this you re in nomans land its not perfect jeff recently launched shiftbeyondcom to in effect inspire others to take chances like he did and to get a chance to win a trip to the galapagos islands to help promote hopes and dreams as he put it from a guy who has been living his