mwhities(Offline)

So, I did a search to see if there were any other handicapped people on board. Besides one gentleman that posted the picture of his paraplegic buddy (Inspiration to me!) no others showed up.

So, about myself. (Reading through a few threads, some of you will know who I am already and might put me on ignore. :P) I'm 6' 6" and I weigh 315lbs. (Yes, a big boy.) In 1990 I lost most of my left arm (about a 4" nub left) in an industrial incident. After that, I never really allowed it to slow me down. Being 15 years old at the time of the accident, shortly after being released out of the hospital (couple days) I was back to riding four-wheelers, riding my skateboard, and chasing cute 15 year old girls.

I thought alot about my life and how it was changed on the drive back from the hospital (Salt Lake City University) to my hometown (Belle Fourche SD). I figured I had two options, first one to feel sorry for myself and go into depression and just live enough to be alive, which would cause my family pain and myself pain or I could life my life the best I could. I opted for the latter. Not sure if I made this up or heard it but, I have a motto: Life goes on, no sense dwelling on the past.

I was told be experts that I wouldn't be able to do 90-95% of the things a two armed person could do in life. I figure I'm easily doing or have done at least 80% of them. That's why I am posting here (and other boards) to keep doing what said I couldn't do.

Scuba diving. I've always wanted to scuba dive and even join the Coast Guard. The year I lived in Oregon before my accident, I wanted to go and join the Coast Guard and said if I could when I turned 18, I was going to. That next Summer, we move to my home town, Belle Fourche SD and shortly after (few weeks) I lost my arm.

Fast forward to two year ago. I met my wife and being the traveler, I went with her and her family on a cruise to Cozumel (and other ports). We did the shopping and spent time out at Mezcalitos. On the way back in, we decided to go snorkeling. Well, my wife's (girlfriend then) brother-in-law (Neal) was scuba certified and he opted to dive instead. So, there we were floating on the surface and I payed no attention to the fish or anything, I just watched Neal float down toward the bottom and then out of site. I gave him the outstanding "You are #1!" sign. I vowed to become certified before our next trip.

Three months later, I'm certified. Fast forward.. (still with me?) I wet trough the usually 1500.00 in gear and tilled up the bottom and used an AL80 in under 20 minutes. My dive buddy and I went out on a boat (first boat/salt water dive) and on our first dive, at 86' roughly, I notice I'm almost out of air. I believe 500psi or so. So I signal to my dive buddy and we make our way back to the anchor line. As we start going up, I signal to my buddy to share air. No problem, although, this is where it started.

While we were sharing air, the boat was bouncing pretty good and it was hard to stay together on the line. All of the sudden, my buddy and in collide and then pulled apart. I see his second stage floating away from my mouth without the mouth piece. I quickly grab the second stage and I start breathing from it with my mouth over the plastic part.

We surface and I thank him for helping me out. What brought me to the long hose... I swore I was going to get a longer hose so that would never happen again. So, after getting back home, I logged on to another board and started searching for anyone/thing that has used a longer hose for the primary reg. That's when I found HOG and DIR. I messaged a few people (if they want to chime in, please do.) and got more information about it.

I also searched on the net for images and more information. I REALLY liked the look of the HOG/DIR setups. I figured it wouldn't be so constricting and would feel more comfortable in the water. After PMing and posting for what seemed months, I finally was able to narrow down what I wanted and ended up buying a DeepSeaSupply BP/W. LOVE IT. (Still have/use it.)

So, I know I lacked a lot of skills that many more people have than myself, hence the OOA incident I had. (I still do.) I read more and more about DIR and I really liked the that the divers worked together as a team and their gear is identical. So, after buying my BP/W, I was finally able to get my dive buddy to purchase on as well. So, there we are, "techies". We worked on our trim and buoyancy and somewhat have it down.

To present day. I've been threating to take Fundies for quite sometime. Things just got in the way. Money has been tight and buying/selling gear seemed like and endless loop for myself. I talked, PMed, and chatted with several people about possibly taking Fundies. All of them said that I shouldn't have any problem taking the class and have since encouraged me to do so. A lot of talk about only having one-arm came up and if I could actually take the class under GUE's regulations. So, I went straight to the top, I e-mailed Jarrod. He responded saying that there should be no reason I why I couldn't take the class and if I could do all the skills up to par, I should be able to get a pass. (I've already accepted that I won't the first time around.. at least not tech.)

So, as I stated in the first sentence, I did a search for handicap and I found the gentleman with the paraplegic friend and I also found this thread and page of that thread. One guy was saying .

I first wanted to be offended than I thought about it. Maybe this guy just hasn't ever dove with a handicapped diver. Also, in the GUE scheme of things, handicapped people ARE accepted in this place. Being GUE, ask Jarrod.

I understand his position though. I've even in the last few days realized, that I don't have the capability to be in a cave. There are so many things that can go wrong that I'm not going to ever try to endanger myself, an instructor or anyone else. (Although, I do want to take cavern for more skills.) I have accepted that and I'm okay with it too. Yes, I could possibly do it and become a very reliable and safe cave diver but, I would much prefer to dive wrecks. More on that some other time.

What are more of your views about a one-armed guy taking a Fundies class? I've already registered with GUE and applied for a class. Ed Gabe and I have talked and he is excited about teaching me. Like I said earlier, I figure I'm not going to pass one the first try but, I'm going to do my best. Hopefully I'll surprise myself. I'm sure Ed knows to not take it easy on me. I'd be super pissed if he did. I want to be treated the same as any other diver would be treated. If that means I don't get a pass ever, I'll be fine with that. The skills I'll learn from the class(es) will be invaluable.

So please comment, ask questions make suggestion in reference to my little story here and the procedures of GUE with me only have one-arm. I'm open and will answer anything you might have. All I ask is to be 100% honest as I'll give you the same respect.

Michael

__________________
- "Enthusiasm tempered with a little wise patience is a very good thing." - Claudette -

Lou(Offline)

Well, utmost respect for your attitude, first off. I am not GUE trained, just interested in all sorts of diving styles, so forgive me for responding from that standpoint, first off.

Whilst I have no doubt whatsoever that you can have a full and enjoyable diving career, i wonder why you have latched onto DIR? It is probably going to be the most difficult system for you to improve your skills within, and although I absolutely can't answer authoritatively, I am fairly sure that there are some skills and procedures that need you to do two things at once and I wonder if that could be adapted to deal with you having one arm, and whether adaption or changing of a skill slightly ends up with you not being able to perform the skills to "par" (as JJ put it).

Of course JJ's answer, to a degree, is a get out from answering the question, and yet it is the total answer! You have to be able to do it all, in the proscribed manner.

I, for one, am very interested to see how this is finally answered.

(One particular question - can you reach across to shut down the opposite post on a set of twins / doubles? I have seen someone do this, but no way I can! :D)

Paul Burgess(Offline)

Good luck to you. Sounds like you are in for an interesting journey.

I expect that you and your instructor will have to do a bit of head scratching to figure out ways to do skills and drills with only one arm.

I would imagine that you will be able to overcome a bunch of issues by developing a novel technique that works for you but there may be some ways of doing things that don't reconcile to only having one arm (like the location of an SPG). I guess you have to suck it and see.

My hunch is that you will develop a different way of diving that makes more sense with your disability (an attentive and well trained buddy will adapt to this no problem). DIR for you may look quite different to two-armed DIR. The key is that you are maximising your in water comfort, safety, awareness and enjoyment.

Whatever happens, I am sure that you will develop as a diver and however you choose to further your diving will be benefitted.

Best of luck,

Paul

Kev(Offline)

Go for it mate!

I have no idea how you will do some of the skills one handed but your story is quite inspirational. If you are ever in the UK then give us a shout and we will take you for some good wreck dives.

rjack(Offline)

Michael, your interest in fundementals has been around a long time (year+ based on your posts).
A) why don't you just take the class and see what you get out of it? High Springs is far, but not that far. I'm sure one of the more experienced instructors would appreciate some of challenges you bring to the table.
B) You need some buddies too - I'm sorry you live so far away, we have lots around here.

Richard

mwhities(Offline)

Lou,

Thank you very much for you kind words. I figure I have a good chance at being GUE certified but, I doubt I'll ever be DIR. I just love the way the gear is configured, the way the team interacts and just how streamed line everything is.

My main concern right now is shooting the bag. I'm not sure what are tasks he'll load me up with but, that's the main one I'm concerned about. I figure with more practice, I can do the valve drills, no problem with that. (Beit a little slow but, they do get cut off. )

I received an e-mail from my instructor tonight, what he states clears it up for me:

Makes perfect sense to me. I don't want a "gimme" or "take it easy on him". Bust my (__Y__) just like you would a normal two armed person. If I can't do a skill, give me a 1 on it and lets move on.

JJ was quite clear in his e-mail and a great person to take time away to answer me e-mails.

Yes, it's a bit of a stretch (*rim shot*) but I can reach the left valve and open/close it in the water. I'll need to stretch more and figure out my dry suit more so I can accomplish doing valve drills faster and more efficient.

Hope all of this made sense.

Michael

__________________
- "Enthusiasm tempered with a little wise patience is a very good thing." - Claudette -

mwhities(Offline)

Paul,

Thank you so very much. I've had this journey all of my life, I'm just adding chapter on chapter on.

He's already started turning gray and I've only been chatting with him for the last couple weeks. He's really excited and ready to help me advance my diving to the next level. I too am excited and ready to learn and practice everything he has to offer.

I've adopted and adapted a LOT of things that help me do the same thing a two armed person can do. Granted, I might be slower at doing it but, it will get done and sometimes, better. In the class, that's all I'm looking for. Become a better diver with the skills I'll learn, become more confident in the water and that will help me relax more as well. One skill I REALLY need to work on is situational awareness. I find that I get so wrapped up into making sure I'm finning right, I'm staying off the bottom, I'm not yo-yoing in the water column, that I forget where my buddy is and break trim and do everything wrong trying to find him/her.

Thanks so much again Paul, I appreciate these encouraging words.

Michael

__________________
- "Enthusiasm tempered with a little wise patience is a very good thing." - Claudette -

mwhities(Offline)

Kev,

I have taken the plunge. I already signed up at GUE's site, registered for the class and my instructor is waiting for my deposit to show up.

I hope that I can get good enough (before or after) class that I colud do some video and maybe help/inspire other handicapped people to go out and dive and even get into more technical diving like I am.

I'll definitely take you up on your offer if I ever go that way. Might be awhile but, I'll do it.

Thanks Kev,

Michael

__________________
- "Enthusiasm tempered with a little wise patience is a very good thing." - Claudette -

mwhities(Offline)

Richard,

Hey bud. As I posted in my last post ()... I signed up for a class and we are doing it in Pelham AL at http://www.divealabama.com. The instructor is coming in and teaching us there.

All the other people taking the class is from tat area. One I think is from Georgia. So, I essentially have like minded buddies but, I can only get that way once a month. No like minded buddies here at home (Pelham is three to fours hours away) plus, NO place to dive here in the state of Mississippi. Well, a 15' pool but, it's something I guess and only 5.00 to use it however long I want.

I wish I was up in your neck of the woods. Of course, my wife wouldn't like it to much. "Where you going... err, nevermind, dive safe.."

haha

Michael

__________________
- "Enthusiasm tempered with a little wise patience is a very good thing." - Claudette -

Icarusflies(Offline)