There are some out there that will tell you diving with anyone that isnt in tip top physical conditioning should not be diving under any circumstances. They come up with things like they will kill themselves or kill others and the list goes on. Well, I guess they have never had the pleasure of diving with someone who is not a Navy Seal like they picture themselves to be.
For around twenty years I tried to get my wife to dive without success. She was always to busy doing this or that and was just not interested. She questioned why I came home so mentally beat and totally exhausted from some operations where we had a hard time finding what ever we were looking for. After all we just had to go a few feet and what was so hard about that.
She had been having medical problems for quite some time and in 1992 we found out what it was, she has MS. A short time later she had to retire from her accountant job and we moved onto our boat 8 months out of the year.
Being on the boat was ideal. She didnt have to go far for anything and she was never away from something to grab when she started to fall. She would swim every day which helped but still had no interest in diving even though I was doing several dives a day.
Then there was this nice bright sunny day when she asked can you teach me how to dive? No, but do you want to try it? So I grab my gear and we go over to a shallow area of the marina. We do a little classroom then with her on my octo and a death grip on her we kneel down and swim around a while. When it was over I thought I was with a kid at Disneyland. She wanted to go deeper. NO! 5 to 6 feet was enough. You want to go deeper youre going to school. Wa wa wa but we got her into the next class.
We have known her instructor for years and he knew what we were facing. Her buddy was another female but I was with the two of them during every step and the instructor was never out of sight. When it came to pool skills she caught on the fastest and did the best on the skills IN THE WATER. Out of the water she didnt have the strength to move a tank even a couple of feet or put the gear together so I did it. She got her OW, then dry suit, AOW and Nitrox in rapid succession and was diving a lot. She has three dive buddies, me, her instructor and his assistant who we have also known for years and thats it.
What have we discovered with her diving? More than anyone could imagine.
I get partially suited up then start getting her suited up. She sits on the side of our dive boat with her feet on the ladder and I put on her Force Fins which we find work very well for those without a lot of leg strength. Then on goes the BC with the custom made intergraded weights. Once she gets suited I pick up the bottom of the tank and in she goes, head first. 30 seconds later I join her and off we go. Getting out took another plan that works very well.
But here is the interesting part. She is a deep freak, the deeper the better. So one day we were around 130 for just a couple of minutes and when we came up she walked up the dive ladder unassisted after getting out of her gear. Hummm, thats cool.
A short time later we were down a little over 100 and maxed out the tables. We were diving off our dive boat but tied up in the marina. At the surface I got her out of her gear and again she went up the ladder unassisted. Now keep in mind that she could only walk with a walker but needed a wheelchair to go any more than just a few feet.
I get out and get everything secured on the boat before I noticed she gone. Heart stops and that sinking feeling sets in as I about panic. Shes on the dock around 20 slips from where I was and she was almost jogging. Holly Poo Batman shes on speed or something. For the next week she was able to walk unassisted. She wasnt fast but had good energy and balance. This happened every time we dove.
With the blessing of her Neurologist we worked her up to a 60% Nitrox at 30 for an hour in the training tower. Even better results than on deep air. So now she dives higher mixes of Nitrox while Im still on plain old 21% unless Im on a trip away from home.
So what does this all mean? She is no longer using so much as a cane let alone a walker of wheelchair. For 8 years she was basically immobilized and diving was one of the lifestyle changes we made that got her somewhat back to normal.
Why did I ramble? I would encourage anyone who knows someone who has a disability to get with their medical professionals to see if diving might help them. We did it for several others with MS and we even paid for the classes. All of them showed improvement but the results we had are not going to work for everyone.
It is rewarding beyond words when you see someone improve physically and or mentally from diving. But it is beyond any description when its your spouse.
I have never been involved with HSA but I am very aware of what they do and I wish more people would get involved with them. Now heres a thought. If youre getting bored with seeing the same old thing while your diving or looking for something to expand your horizons start working with them and get those diving who think they cant.
Get involved if you can.
Gary D.
