One-legged divers?

[pasley]

... Being a diver, this set me to wondering if a person could continue to dive if they lost a leg.....

I have logged several beach dives with a person who is an amputee. In the water or out, having only only whole leg is not an issue for her. Other than avoiding entries with lots of rocks in canaloupe to beach ball size range she requires no special consieration.

Amputation of a limb is not of itself a handicap. The persons attitude is the biggest factor. One of the top British Fighter Aces of WWII Douglas Bader was a double amputee (one leg above and one below the knee)! http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/5460/bader.html.

Then there is the 13 year old surfer who lost an arm to a shark in Hawaii last year. She is up competing again.

I was palying golf on day a few years ago and in the foursome ahead of us was a blind golfer. His partner helped line him up and he did the rest. His score was even better than mine!

 

[ChikkenNoodul]

I dove with a guy in Key Largo who had one leg. He had a stick with a half a wood or fiberglass ball on the other end. Topping things off he was a commercial diver from MA and he had a very intersting sense of humor. I didnt see him experiencing any difficulties (perhaps because his 'buddy' was a retired royal marine from her majasties navy who put him on his tank to get over to the better side of the reef to terrorize lobster and morray's), and he got on and off the boat without any help - I think he went into the water via some weird half-gainer or something.

One thing I'll never forget is his looking for a peice of gear - "Anybody seen my fin? Its the blue one!"

I dove with a gentleman in Key Largo who had one leg as well, but he lived there and is an instructor. Didn't need any help geting on/off the boat and certainly had fantastic skills u/w! Had a great sense of humor as well, could be the same person? =)

 

[MaxBottomtime]

There's a guy I used to see at Catalina all the time with one leg. He always dived solo and made his giant stride and climbed up the swim ladder without assistance. He always joked that he was very good at the dolphin kick.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

and neither of these ladies requires any special help diving.

We are happy to offer assistance, but the same service we offer all guests is more than enough. We load tanks and gear for everyone and are always happy to provide a steadying hand when boarding the boat.

 

[Bretagne]

He is not amputated, but the technical director (=head instructor) of our diving club is strongly disabled of one leg (polio).

 

[Rick Inman]

When I was a kid, a crusty old beach bum with 1.5 legs used to go skin diving every day off the jetty in Venice Beach, CA. He used one full foot Voit fin and left his crutch on the beach. Sometimes I'd go with him and I couldn't keep up. He was always doing something showy, like when he grabbed a small nurse shark and shoved his finger in it's mouth and said, "This shark has teeth like my mother. None." He'd swim out to the rocks and break one leg off of a bunch of crabs, then let the crabs go and keep the single legs for his dinner. "Now we're even," he'd say.

 

[weremermaid]

Hi guys,
I just joined up from the Philippines and yes, I'm a one-legged diver. Had my leg amputated in a fight with cancer (I made the decision at age 11) and am an above-knee amputee. The funniest thing was this improved my swimming.

I'm PADI certified and already overdue for advanced diver certification. I usually walk into the sea on my crutches if its a shore dive (somone brings the crutches to shore) or just backroll off a boat. I usually don my BC in the sea or if the boat is pitching then I backroll with all gear on.

Climbing up ladders on a pitching boat isn't difficult, I just inflate my BC and float it withing grabbing reach of the folk on board. I do like the old squatty tank because I'm small (5'2") but can wear the regular tank no problem, I just have to lean forward a bit.

Equipment-wise, I use a pro force fin and custom sewn lycra suit and wetsuit. Alas, my Filipino wetsuit maker tells me no other one-legged people have come forward to have custom suits done.

I am still on the trail of finding the perfect broader or longer fin and am contemplating a rubber split fin or perhaps altering a monofin blade. I use the large Tusa Visualator which takes 2 breaths of air to clear but doesn't impede me in any way. Yes! I'm a brightly colored mermaid tootling underwater and get amused when other divers do a double take.

I usually swim dolphin style although swimming sideways is also fun. When I get tired or in current, I do use my arms or use both to push thru the water. I do pack a pair of pool gloves, the type that has webbing between fingers, in case I need to scoop more water to make up for a resting leg. I have no problem with bouyancy control, but being the human cork I am, I have to remember to wear more weights.

My one leg seems to be lighter though, and if I permit it, I will eventually rise towards the surface upside down. I've considered ankle weights but I don't think that's fair to my leg which does so much work already.

And aside from scuba I also have years of experience paddling a sea kayak in all tropical conditions and also sail a Topper at high speed when I can.

I suppose the upper body strength comes in handy on all three sports. If you guys have any questions or have someone who would like to share experiences do send me a message.

Cherrie

 

[Rick Inman]

Hi guys,
I just joined up from the Philippines and yes, I'm a one-legged diver. Had my leg amputated in a fight with cancer (I made the decision at age 11) and am an above-knee amputee. The funniest thing was this improved my swimming.

I'm PADI certified and already overdue for rescue diver certification. I usually walk into the sea on my crutches if its a shore dive (somone brings the crutches to shore) or just backroll off a boat. I usually don my BC in the sea or if the boat is pitching then I backroll with all gear on.

Climbing up ladders on a pitching boat isn't difficult, I just inflate my BC and float it withing grabbing reach of the folk on board. I do like the old squatty tank because I'm small (5'2") but can wear the regular tank no problem, I just have to lean forward a bit.

Equipment-wise, I use a pro force fin and custom sewn lycra suit and wetsuit. Alas, my Filipino wetsuit maker tells me no other one-legged people have come forward to have custom suits done.

I am still on the trail of finding the perfect broader or longer fin and am contemplating a rubber split fin or perhaps altering a monofin blade. I use the large Tusa Visualator which takes 2 breaths of air to clear but doesn't impede me in any way. Yes! I'm a brightly colored mermaid tootling underwater and get amused when other divers do a double take.

I usually swim dolphin style although swimming sideways is also fun. When I get tired or in current, I do use my arms or use both to push thru the water. I do pack a pair of pool gloves, the type that has webbing between fingers, in case I need to scoop more water to make up for a resting leg. I have no problem with bouyancy control, but being the human cork I am, I have to remember to wear more weights.

My one leg seems to be lighter though, and if I permit it, I will eventually rise towards the surface upside down. I've considered ankle weights but I don't think that's fair to my leg which does so much work already.

And aside from scuba I also have years of experience paddling a sea kayak in all tropical conditions and also sail a Topper at high speed when I can.

I suppose the upper body strength comes in handy on all three sports. If you guys have any questions or have someone who would like to share experiences do send me a message.

Cherrie

Thanks for the great post! And thanks for putting into perspective some of our petty complaints.

 

[H2Andy]

weremermaid:

wow... way to go. thank you for sharing.

 

[Mako Mark]

recently I recieved a call from one of our staff wanting to know if we could teach a one legged guy.

There were a couple of good natured jokes about him swimming in circles, but the answer was "Yes of course" we have taught many people with greater challenges than that.

the sales person said "thanks.... and by the way,, he's blind" then hung up.

that was a new one for me, I mean, what is he going to do? swim in circles and not see anything?

It turned out I met the guy on the dock before and after the dive. He was really a cool dude, and said that the best thing about diving for him was listening to the fish.

His blindness opened my eyes a little, and my ears too.