A year after being diagnosed with Lyme disease which left her unable to walk let alone stand on a board, Australian teenager Sierra Kerr has qualified for the World Surf League tour.
The 2023 junior world champion finished third in the Challenger Series event in Ribeira d'Ilhas in Portugal on Monday, which gave her enough points as the rankings leader to secure a spot on the Championship Tour (CT) in 2027.
Kerr, daughter of former professional surfer Josh Kerr, looked destined for the top-level tour until the 19-year-old was struck down by a mystery illness following the junior world titles in the Philippines in January, 2025.
Between February and April of 2025 she was out of the water completely, battling neurological symptoms, and after multiple hospital visits and misdiagnoses it was determined in October she had Lyme disease, a tick-borne bacterial infection.
"After World Juniors , I got really sick and was hospitalised in Australia with neurological and GI (gastrointestinal) symptoms that made it hard to walk or even lift my legs and with numerous other symptoms," she wrote on Instagram.
"I was able to connect with doctors and get help in the US. After going through hospital stays, ER visits, procedures, and testing, I finally found answers that make sense."
Kerr said she had to relearn to surf again, but five top 10 finishes this year, including winning the US Open of Surfing and the Galicia Pro in Spain in August, was enough to become the first woman to lock down a CT spot.
The teen was embraced by her father on the beach in Portugal after her position was confirmed.
"When I saw all my mates on the beach and my dad gave me the thumbs up, I knew that I made it. I'm stoked," the Coolangatta surfer said.
"If you told me a year ago that I would be the first person to qualify for the women? I have no words," Kerr said.
"It's been hard, I'm just so grateful. It just shows you can get through really hard things and still come through on the other side even better than when you went into it."
