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:banana: Yep, this is super Matt....!!! :moose:
Scuba diving dream for MD patient on a ventilator
- Thread starter Matt the Aquaman
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Matt that is sooo cool! I am so happy for you. I can only imagine the joy (and nervousness) you felt as you got a glimpse of what so many of us take for granted.
Keep us up to date with your progress.
Keep us up to date with your progress.
PairofMedics
Guest
Hey, you are amazing!!! Good luck in your endeavors!!! Wish I could do something to help you.
OP
Matt the Aquaman
Contributor
Thanks for the nice words everyone. To tell you the truth Jenny, I wasn't nervous to be back into the water. I was relived and next time I well be in the water a lot longer. I was happy, it was better then a drink. 
Lisa I was in heaven, I was more comfortable in the water then in my chair. I could breathe better and seemed so natural. One big step closer and I did learn that persistence pays off. :dazzler1:
Thanks Don. Now you can call me super Matt. Matt the Wonder Boy doesn't fit any more. LOL.
Thanks you for the encouraging words PairofMedics. You are already helping by being a friend and just telling my story to other people. Or by wearing one of my project shirts well too. Good advertisement.
Down below is the article, enjoy.
Take care everyone Matt. :sprite10:
Posted on Sat, Jun. 11, 2005
HIS DREAM IS AFLOAT
Matt Johnston, who has a degenerative disease, takes first dip in water in 10 years
BY NANCY YANG
Pioneer Press
Matt Johnston knew he'd have to clear a few hurdles if he wanted to make his dream of scuba diving a reality. Near the top of the list: Just getting back in the water. That's because Johnston has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and is on a ventilator.
Consider that item checked off.
On Thursday, the Woodbury resident took his first dip in more than 10 years, working with a water therapist and joined by two of his local diving buddies, to get reacclimated to the water and moving around in it.
Johnston hasn't been in a pool for the past decade because that's when he needed to use the ventilator more frequently. He was diagnosed as a child with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a degenerative disease that eventually affects all voluntary muscles and the heart and breathing muscles.
According to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, most people with the disease do not live past their early 30s. Johnston is 28. He isn't letting the disease stop him from aiming for his dream, which he's had since he was 6.
Last year he started a campaign called Matthew Johnston: Diving a Dream to help pay for the design and creation of a ventilator that can be used underwater. He figures it could cost as much as $200,000.
He's also selling merchandise on www.zazzle.com, an online marketplace, and accepts donations through his project and personal Web sites. Things are going well, he said, noting support and attention from around the world. Johnston's campaign drew the attention of Laura Loppnow's first-grade students at Red Rock Elementary in Woodbury, and he and the students now correspond as pen pals.
On Thursday, his attention was focused on getting back into the water. He showed up for the half-hour session at the Courage St. Croix center in Stillwater already in his specially made dry suit, which has an opening in the front to allow him to connect ventilator tubes.
"I'm really excited," Johnston said before the session. "First time in 10 years."
Johnston had to keep his ventilator above water while he was in the pool. His friends helped him make do with 6-foot tubes linking him to a portable ventilator kept in a large plastic storage container. Drew Gerling, one of Johnston's diving buddies and a diver himself, carried the container in the pool above the water.
"We're just along for the ride," Gerling said of he and fiancé Marcie Stone, Johnston's other diving friend and an aquarist. "I think I'm more excited about this than he is."
Most of Johnston's time in the pool consisted of moving from place to place in nearly 4 feet deep water. Eventually, he's hoping to dive somewhere near 10 feet deep.
Johnston called the pool experience "awesome." "It's a different feeling," he said. "It was cool being weightless."
Johnston also said being in the water was a bit more comfortable than being out of it. "He said it was easier to breathe," his nurse, Sara Freking, said. "It was less work."
Johnston used to visit Courage Center regularly for water therapy, said his father, Charlee Dollens, but had to stop when he went on the ventilator full time. Dollens said they'll probably try to come at least twice a month now especially because Thursday's swim was so successful.
"Part of what we wanted to do was see what obstacles might come across," Dollens said during the session. "So far, everything is tolerable."On his way out and back home still in his dry suit Johnston asked Frekin to turn his wheelchair slightly so he could do one thing. "I want to look at the pool," he said. Because, he said, he'll be back.
ONLINE
For more information about Matt Johnston visit www.divingadream.org or www.scubadivingdream.com.
Lisa I was in heaven, I was more comfortable in the water then in my chair. I could breathe better and seemed so natural. One big step closer and I did learn that persistence pays off. :dazzler1:
Thanks Don. Now you can call me super Matt. Matt the Wonder Boy doesn't fit any more. LOL.
Thanks you for the encouraging words PairofMedics. You are already helping by being a friend and just telling my story to other people. Or by wearing one of my project shirts well too. Good advertisement.
Down below is the article, enjoy.
Take care everyone Matt. :sprite10:
Posted on Sat, Jun. 11, 2005
HIS DREAM IS AFLOAT
Matt Johnston, who has a degenerative disease, takes first dip in water in 10 years
BY NANCY YANG
Pioneer Press
Matt Johnston knew he'd have to clear a few hurdles if he wanted to make his dream of scuba diving a reality. Near the top of the list: Just getting back in the water. That's because Johnston has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and is on a ventilator.
Consider that item checked off.
On Thursday, the Woodbury resident took his first dip in more than 10 years, working with a water therapist and joined by two of his local diving buddies, to get reacclimated to the water and moving around in it.
Johnston hasn't been in a pool for the past decade because that's when he needed to use the ventilator more frequently. He was diagnosed as a child with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a degenerative disease that eventually affects all voluntary muscles and the heart and breathing muscles.
According to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, most people with the disease do not live past their early 30s. Johnston is 28. He isn't letting the disease stop him from aiming for his dream, which he's had since he was 6.
Last year he started a campaign called Matthew Johnston: Diving a Dream to help pay for the design and creation of a ventilator that can be used underwater. He figures it could cost as much as $200,000.
He's also selling merchandise on www.zazzle.com, an online marketplace, and accepts donations through his project and personal Web sites. Things are going well, he said, noting support and attention from around the world. Johnston's campaign drew the attention of Laura Loppnow's first-grade students at Red Rock Elementary in Woodbury, and he and the students now correspond as pen pals.
On Thursday, his attention was focused on getting back into the water. He showed up for the half-hour session at the Courage St. Croix center in Stillwater already in his specially made dry suit, which has an opening in the front to allow him to connect ventilator tubes.
"I'm really excited," Johnston said before the session. "First time in 10 years."
Johnston had to keep his ventilator above water while he was in the pool. His friends helped him make do with 6-foot tubes linking him to a portable ventilator kept in a large plastic storage container. Drew Gerling, one of Johnston's diving buddies and a diver himself, carried the container in the pool above the water.
"We're just along for the ride," Gerling said of he and fiancé Marcie Stone, Johnston's other diving friend and an aquarist. "I think I'm more excited about this than he is."
Most of Johnston's time in the pool consisted of moving from place to place in nearly 4 feet deep water. Eventually, he's hoping to dive somewhere near 10 feet deep.
Johnston called the pool experience "awesome." "It's a different feeling," he said. "It was cool being weightless."
Johnston also said being in the water was a bit more comfortable than being out of it. "He said it was easier to breathe," his nurse, Sara Freking, said. "It was less work."
Johnston used to visit Courage Center regularly for water therapy, said his father, Charlee Dollens, but had to stop when he went on the ventilator full time. Dollens said they'll probably try to come at least twice a month now especially because Thursday's swim was so successful.
"Part of what we wanted to do was see what obstacles might come across," Dollens said during the session. "So far, everything is tolerable."On his way out and back home still in his dry suit Johnston asked Frekin to turn his wheelchair slightly so he could do one thing. "I want to look at the pool," he said. Because, he said, he'll be back.
ONLINE
For more information about Matt Johnston visit www.divingadream.org or www.scubadivingdream.com.
:balloon
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Hi Matt, great report and nice pictures. One step closer to living your dream. You go guy.
David
David
crpntr133
lost, even with a compass
This made the hair on my arms stand straight up. Congrats Matt and glad to see that you are progressing nicely.
One small step for Matt. One giant stride for MD.
One small step for Matt. One giant stride for MD.
Thanks for posting the pics Matt.
Glad to hear your pool session went so well!!
You're getting closer all the time!!
Best of Luck!!
Rick
Glad to hear your pool session went so well!!
You're getting closer all the time!!
Best of Luck!!
Rick
Matt, you rock! I am so pleased to hear that you got back into the water. Keep it up and you will be underneath the surface in no time! Keep up the awesome work.
OP
Matt the Aquaman
Contributor
Hi David glad you liked the pics. Yes it is getting closer to my dream. :dazzler1:
Hello crpntr133 glad I could make your hair stand up on your arms. LOL. Thanks for the kind words. By the way I feel it was a big step and bigger step to come.
Greetings ParamedicDiver1, you and all divers rock in my book. And thanks for the great words. And I well keep up the good work. I well see you under water some day.
Take care and diving safe all Matt.
Hello crpntr133 glad I could make your hair stand up on your arms. LOL. Thanks for the kind words. By the way I feel it was a big step and bigger step to come.
Greetings ParamedicDiver1, you and all divers rock in my book. And thanks for the great words. And I well keep up the good work. I well see you under water some day.
Take care and diving safe all Matt.
:balloon
Click here to greet a new member!
No experience needed and it feels great!
Click here to greet a new member!
No experience needed and it feels great!
Matt,
I am so happy that you got to get in the water again! I know it was a joyful experience. It is so exciting to see you reach another step closer to diving. Your dream is going to become reality! Those of us who love diving understand the euphoria you will experience, and hope and pray in our hearts that it is everything you hoped it would be.
Do you have any other updates on status of the project? Are things moving along?
Your friend,
Foo
I am so happy that you got to get in the water again! I know it was a joyful experience. It is so exciting to see you reach another step closer to diving. Your dream is going to become reality! Those of us who love diving understand the euphoria you will experience, and hope and pray in our hearts that it is everything you hoped it would be.
Do you have any other updates on status of the project? Are things moving along?
Your friend,
Foo
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