“Faces of Courage” is the theme for the 2005 calendar. I have accomplished many things since my injury and my life with spasticity. One accomplishment thought impossible for someone of my injury level and prepotency for severe spasticity in cold water was to SCUBA Dive in the open ocean. It took a great deal of courage to learn to swim as a quadriplegic and even more to learn how to SCUBA dive. It was extremely difficult at first, I bailed out for the surface of the pool on my first three attempts. Once I realized I had to remain in a position with my head above my chest in order to breathe I was able to enjoy being underwater. I have no intercostale muscles and cannot exhale if my head is lower than my torso. I can only inhale and you need to be able to inhale and exhale in order to respirate (breathe). This physiological condition has lead many people to believe SCUBA Diving would be impossible for high level quadriplegics especially high level quadriplegics with spasticity. The condition is compounded by the water pressure and increases exponentially the deeper you go underwater. SCUBA is an acronym for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, which simply means each diver is independently capable of spending time underwater without surface support. I am highly dependent on my dive buddies while in the open ocean below, as well as above, water. It takes an extreme amount of courage to put your life in the hands of others. If I spaz out and lose a regulator (the breathing device) or get in a position (head down) where I cannot respirate I am solely relying on my team.
I have proven to myself, as well as many skeptics, despite the inherent risk involved with the fabulous sport of recreational SCUBA Diving people with disabilities – even spasticity – can enjoy the experience.
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