One-legged Byron Bay surfer Mark 'Mono' Stewart wins world title - 28th September 2015

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Australian surfer Mark 'Mono' Stewart has won a gold medal at the first world adaptive surfing championships at La Jolla in California.

The event featured surfers with a physical disability.

Stewart, who lost a leg to bone cancer as a teenager, rides a modified kneeboard.

He defeated surfers from South Africa, Hawaii and Brazil in today's final.

The Byron Bay local said it was an emotional victory.

"It's been an amazing week," he said.

"I've been waiting 35 years for this event and finally... wooh!

"To be brutally honest I thought I was coming second or third.

"I wasn't happy with what I'd done at that point and it was a little bit hard to hear the scores out in the water because the crowd was yelling and carrying on so much.

"So it was a real bonus when I got to the shore and my fan base was there and my team mates and they said that I actually won it.

"The whole contest, win, lose or draw it's just been... the stoke and the vibe, I've never experienced it anywhere else around the world.

"It's just incredible.

"To win it, it's just... I still can't believe it.

"The people associated with surfing, the amount of friends and inspirational people that I see, this week particularly.

"I mean I had a tear in my eye every day watching paraplegics just ripping.

"It's sort of amazing, the whole experience has just been phenomenal."

(ABC News)