Disabled Diver-Back in the Water!

[betheny]

I am a diver that was sidelined 7 years ago due to a spinal cord injury. (C5-6 incomplete quadriplegic.) This is an account of my dive trip last week to New Mexico, and what we were doing there...Feel free to ask if you have questions. These are great programs. If you have any interest in diving, I'd encourage you to contact them. I am so happy to be back in the water!

2 names if you're disabled and want to scuba dive:

Diveheart (Jim Elliott)-Chicago The DiveHeart Foundation - Home


"The purpose of Diveheart is to provide and support educational SCUBA diving and snorkeling experience programs that are open to any physically impaired child or adult in the hope of providing both physical and psychological therapeutic value to that person."

Cody Unser First Step Foundation (Cody and/or Shelley Unser) New Mexico Scuba Gear and Scuba Diving Equipment - Discount dive gear

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People keep asking "Why would you go to New Mexico, to the desert, to scuba dive?!" Well, I wouldn't, if not for the excellent folks above. I have to note, because I love this: Those 2 organizations I listed are basically competitors. Competition in this instance would be a hindrance so they are collaborating to best offer adaptive scuba instruction. We need more of this, organizations willing to work together to further their missions.

Jim Elliott, founder of Diveheart, is a soft-spoken man. If you've ever been around dive instructors, there is a small portion of them that keep their own counsel. Their eyes are open, their mouths shut, they are everywhere at once...checking gear, monitoring drills, answering questions, quietly encouraging. They are the type of divers that shave their heads because the mask straps get tangled. I think they are so quiet because they spend 60% of their lives in the water with a regulator in their mouths. These people probably dream in "scuba sign language". Learning from someone like this is a dream. Jim is one of them. Diveheart works with Shriner's and RIC, among others. Jim travels the country, promoting and facilitating these diving programs.

How to describe Shelley Unser? Openhearted, gregarious, friendly, funny, gorgeous. She opened her home to us this week, set delicious snacks out all day, let me bring my dog and my husband, provided Alka-Seltzer when the bladder spasms hit me and dive boots when my feet swelled. We are kindred spirits. We started laughing the first time we spoke and I'm glad we still are. Shelley's daughter Cody was paralyzed by Transverse Myelitis 8 years ago, at 13. Within a year Cody was scuba diving. She wanted to bring it to the rest of us, and Shelley vowed to help her.

Shelley contacted me recently. They are training dive instructors in Albuquerque to certify them as Instructors for the Disabled. Those instructors will then be able to certify the disabled and their buddies as Open Water Divers. It is a demanding course. They have to learn about spinal cords, injury levels. They brainstorm modifications. They tie each other up or blindfold each other and dive, to get a feel for how it is diving with a disability. Eventually, though, they need a disabled person to practice with. As an advanced diver, I was able to help.

First, I had a refresher course in the back yard with Jim. Good thing. In 7 years on dry land, that which is second nature becomes less familiar. The feet float like they aren't even connected, the wetsuit chokes, the vest that worked so well when you used fins seems to turn you on your face. After a minute of huffing compressed air like a rookie, it came back to me. I was diving again! I mainly lay in the water as a student hovered above me and propelled me and stabilized me, back and forth across the pool. I stayed in until shivering drove me out. We did 2 sessions. In between, Jim stripped off my wetsuit and Shelley wrapped me in towels. The mountain sun quickly warmed my bones. Sleep that night was not a problem!

The next day, my friend Jill was up. About Jill-Resident of Santa Fe, realtor, traveler, She Who Saves Me When I'm Against The Wall. My favorite and most frequent dive buddy. Incredibly experienced diver with 175 dives logged. We've been friends since the 70's. Jill geared up, jumped in the pool, and Jim put her through her paces. Tied her up, blindfolded her, they worked and worked. Eventually Jim looked at me like he'd found a diamond. In Jill, he really had. There is no one better at learning and trying and helping than Jill. There is a lot of pressure on the dive buddies for the disabled. If you have limited dexterity (like me), they control your buoyancy. This is as crucial and potentially deadly as your air supply. It takes somebody not easily distracted, a good diver, that is willing to sacrifice their own dive to stare at your back while you are diving, to keep you safe. I wouldn't trust many people to do this. For me, Jill was a no-brainer choice.

That evening we joined a disabled guy learning to dive, 5 instructors working to get certified as Instructors for the Disabled, various others at a local high school's 14 foot deep swimming pool. We quickly geared up. From my perch on the side of the pool, I was helped into my gear. The instructors snapped and Velcroed me into my vest, I checked my air and spit in my mask, put it on. 2 instructors in the water waited as I aired up my BC vest, held my mask and regulator on my face and fell slightly sideways into the pool. The instructors lightly guided my tank as they propelled me to the bottom. One of them controlled my buoyancy. It took several tries at clearing my ears to reach the bottom. The instructors used various methods to control me horizontally and vertically, to steer me, to propel me. They were constantly checking me by holding the OK finger sign up and looking for my response. I worked on swimming. Underwater movement is a lot more forgiving than on dry land. Once again, we got out when I was quivering like jelly. The team smoothly removed my gear, put me on the side of the pool, stripped off my wetsuit, toweled me dry and plopped me in my wheelchair.

We parted knowing we'd all meet again. Because in November, the whole crew is going diving in Cozumel!

I am so grateful to everyone involved here. Dozens of experienced, knowledgeable, compassionate people donating hundreds of hours, not to mention dollars. As Jill says "You? Eh, you're a diver already. But what could be cooler than taking someone that can't easily get around on the surface, and helping them to do what we have always loved the most?"

From CUFSF:"...Adapted scuba students receive the same educational materials as other students, but benefit from instruction enhanced to meet their needs. In some cases, students may require mid- to high-end or altered equipment, such as webbed gloves, pre-curved fins, weight-integrated BCs or crotch straps.

A student who completes the SSI Open Water Diver course receives a certification card with one of two notations in the "specialties" area: "Adapted Diver," which has very little restriction, except that he or she must dive with a buddy and will require assistance with equipment, climbing boat ladders, etc.; or "Escorted Diver," which requires that the recipient not only dive with a buddy experienced in adapted scuba, but also another able-bodied buddy. Diving with two others creates a better system of checks and balances, should an emergency arise. In addition, the buddy of the adapted scuba student can receive recognition on his or her certification card..."
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