Scuba diving

Prior to my injury, I had qualified as an Advanced Open Water Diver through PADI. At the time of my accident I thought my diving days were over as I couldn't imagine how it would be possible to dive as a tetraplegic with only the limited use of one arm.
My first experience as a disabled diver was in Tenerife, after a lot of persuasion by both my carers and the dive staff at the Mar y Sol. Click here for a link to the hotel's website. After some effort they managed to get a wetsuit on me and took me for a shore dive . I've since been diving in a number of places including Barbados, Marsa Alarm in Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt and Grenada in the Caribbean. All of which have been very different experiences. I'm often asked how it all works.

Since Tenerife all of my diving holidays have been with the SCUBA trust click here  for a link. They are a supportive, friendly charity that promote diving for people of all abilities.

I did a try dive at their pool in Ascot to gain some confidence and refresh my skills as it had been a couple of years since I had dived as an able-bodied person. I learnt that diving with a disability was indeed possible.

As all of the trips are boat dives, the first challenge is getting onto the boat. Usually the wheelchair users go on to the jetty and are then lifted in their chair onto the boat. The exception to this was the trip to Barbados where we had to transfer onto a fabricated beach chair which was wheeled into the sea and then we were floated to the boat whilst our chairs were carried above people's heads to the boat.
One of the biggest challenges is getting a wetsuit on, it's hard enough for able-bodied people let alone putting on a paralysed body. I prefer to put it on on the boat as I tend to get too hot if I wear it during the morning. This entails lying on the floor of the boat with people clambering over you and getting in some quite compromising positions! My wetsuit has extra zips to make it easier to put on and I have a small hole in the thigh for the catheter to come out. One tip is to take a small inflatable mattress to avoid pressure areas when lying on the boat floor. I generally instruct putting my kit together as ultimately I am responsible for it so although somebody is helping put the tank and BCD together I try to always check and get told off by the group leader if I don't!

The next thing is to sit on the edge of platform of the boat whilst the dive gear is put on me. Again, I check all the equipment myself as learned during my dive course. By this point I'm a bit nervous so usually have a dry mouth and have to have somebody else spit in my mask (to avoid it fogging up underwater). The BCD is inflated, the regulator is in my mouth and I'm ready to go. Now comes the worst bit! Being pushed headfirst into the water. As soon as I'm in somebody turns me over.

Once everybody is in the water, we go down. The usual practice is to have somebody on my left controlling my buoyancy, somebody on my right helping to move me and somebody else on my tank also helping to move me along. There are also two other divers close by to support should any of my group have a problem.

Prior to going down I agree some signals with my group. If I shake my head from side to side it means something is wrong. Usually it is to equalise my ears so one of the team hold my nose whilst I do this. Sometimes the mask needs clearing as it has fogged up so one of the team assist me with this. Due to my reduced lung capacity I like to swim at a 45° angle and I have a different signal for this.

I wear a harness underneath my BCD which the boat crew used to pull me out of the water rather than putting hands and my shoulders so this limits the damage to my shoulders.

Although a lot of assistance is needed for diving it is still worth it and it is difficult to describe the feeling of being underwater and completely forgetting about any disability. I find the water relaxing, and the fish mesmerising and the dives never last long enough.  People find it hard to believe but I have in fact fallen asleep underwater I have been relaxed! Not something that is recommended   though.

Does anyone else have experience of diving with a disability? Would be great to hear other people experiences.