It started simply enough a Diveheart Class/ San Diego Adaptive Scuba Diving
We entered the class room, and filled the paper work out Liability releases, Medical statements. the typical things that any dive class would have to fill out , copy of dive card, everything you would expect to do, we gave a overview of the class explaining how diving with disabilities is only limited to the person with the disabilities.
Soon we were watching Philip Cousteau in Freedom in Depth we watched the video’s and discussed the awesome courage, of those persons that endure the lemons that they have received in their lives and have made some of the sweetest lemon aid ever. Then all of a sudden Matt Johnston’s videocame on and the room became silent, after the video Jim Elliot founder of Diveheart, told the students about a project that Northwestern University is working on. its kind of a ventilator scuba rig. After seeing Matt on the video of the TODAY show they wanted to make a ventilator that can be attached to the dive tanks and allow Matt to dive to a deeper level,(Oh did I tell you that Matt Johnston, has what they call Duchenne’s Muscular Dystroyphy and is a Quadriplegic wheel chair bound).
This prototype will cost about 20,000.00 Dollars, Well this was all that one student had to hear, Giles (a student in the class that not only survived a disabling auto crash and spinal cord injury but, has recovered to approximately 95% of his pre-accident status pipes up and say’s ” If all it is going to take is money lets find 9 more people as crazy as I am” Without a moments hesitation Giles writes a check for 2000.00 (two thousand dollars) hands it to Jim Elliott and again says I’ll eat noodles for the next month won’t I”This is were it really became not about the training in the class but making a incredible change in the life of one human being by the generosity of another that did not know anything about Matt until this class, excitement took over planning for the 30 days became the focus. We launched what we are calling The Giles Project ( For Obvious reason) . to raise 20K over the next 30 days, and give that 20K to Diveheart and Matt Johnston so he can realize his dream. In a bold statement that was taken onboard by everyone there Giles, David, Evelyn, Jim and myself decided we were going to raise the Twenty Thousand Dollars. within the next 30 days. there was no discussion no negative thoughts, no negative statements about not enough time nothing, just positive actions and statement’s like”tell Matt to get his DUI dry suit out he is heading to deeper water”.
A call to action to those that may read this.
Check out Diveheart at www.diveheart.org, give Al’s diving a call toll free for more information @ (877) 213-2983 or simply give a donation as little as a dollar is good but please (No cash) any thing you may want to send Please send by check Made out to Diveheart, in the memo section be sure to say apply to the Giles Project.
Assisting with the donning of a wet suite for a quadriplegic
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2010
From: Diveheart
900 Ogden Avenue #274
Downers Grove, IL 60515
Telephone: Diveheart at 630-964-1983
Al’s Diving 619-885-1795
California Residents to Receive Training to Teach and/or Assist Scuba Divers with Disabilities
Al’s Diving in San Diego will host Jim Elliott, president and founder of Illinois-based Diveheart as he provides instructor/buddy training for scuba diving with children, adults and veterans with disabilities. The program which begins with classroom instruction on May 19 will conclude with pool and open water dives ending on May 23.
WHAT: DIVEHEART Instructor and Buddy Training for Scuba Diving with Individuals with Disabilities
WHERE:Ocean Enterprises Classroom , 7710 Balboa Ave San Diego, CA 92111
Open water dive on Sunday, La Jolla Shores
WHEN: May 19-23 A Discover Scuba Event for Individuals with Disabilities will be held on May 22 Diveheart provides and supports educational scuba diving and snorkeling experience programs to any child, adult, or veteran with a disability with the hope of providing both physical and psychological therapeutic value.
The physical, mental and spiritual benefits of scuba for people with disabilities and wounded veterans are beyond measure. “Science is increasingly supporting what we in the diving community already know to be true,” said Elliott. “This is the only sport in the world that has no gravity, along with all of the benefits that come with that. Our divers find that they can move body parts that they’ve never been able to move before. Range of motion improves immediately, circulation improves immediately. The under-water world of scuba is the only gravity-free environment in the world.”
Diveheart instructor/buddy training course has been taught to dive professionals around the world including the U.S., Caribbean, Australia, China, Mexico and more. Attendees at the upcoming event will learn about various disabilities and accessibility. Confined water training includes diving as a paraplegic (with legs tied), and as a blind diver with a blackened mask.
Diveheart Foundation is a non-profit tax exempt 501 (C) (3) national organization chartered in the state of Illinois. For further information visit www.diveheart.com. For information regarding the upcoming event contact Alan Blake at ablakediving@cox.net or call him at 619-885-1795
Spinal cord injuries something we never think about until someone we know or love, are injured. What will we do? Who do we go to for help? How will our lives be changed?
Living with a spinal cord injury does it have to be a bad thing, will I be limited in the things I can do? Last Friday Apr. 23 2010 my neighbor’s son and I were talking about putting in a new front door, on my house, Sunday he was with friend’s horsing around, jumping on the hood of a moving car he was thrown to the ground. Life changed in a instent, for the past 5 days he has laid in a coma, not knowing whether he will be totally ok or what, Talking to his father he made the comment ” I guess he won’t be taking scuba lessons now will he?” I know this isn’t the kind of story people want to hear about, but the timing couldn’t be more appropriate as a HSA certified, Scuba instructor with Al’s Diving in San diego we are holding the Diveheart scuba training with Jim Elliott founder of the organization.
SCI doesn’t mean life has to stop or has to be any less rewarding, those with disabilities such as spinal cord injuries can with a little help from a friend, achieve almost anything a able bodied, person can. Like Carmen Yu and some of her friends
See more about diving with disabilities on my dive blog www.alsdiving.storeblogs.com, and remember you too can make a difference in someones life. Interested?
Long Beach, California — Cody Unser was told at the age of 12 that she would never walk again. Years later, Cody said she would never have a boyfriend, in part because of the limitations imposed by her paralysis. And, due to the difficulties her parents encountered with their lives in racing, problems which eventually led Al and Shelley to divorce, Cody was really, really sure she wanted nothing at all to do with racing. Never, ever again.
One thing that Cody Unser knows today is that no one should ever say never to her again. At the age of 20, she has a happy, healthy relationship with her boyfriend of two years, while at the same time embracing her role as “a woman in a chair.” When all is said and done, she is far more a woman, period, than a woman in a chair, but that is clearly a part of who she is. The boyfriend is, of course, part of the world of racing, but Unser acknowledges that “racing is a part of me,” and so it’s really not so strange that her man is part of the racing world, too.
Few young people have such a strong heritage in auto racing. Cody is the granddaughter of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser, Sr., and grand niece of racer Bobby Unser. And, few drivers have been as successful in Champ Car as her father, Al Unser, Jr. Perhaps no driver is as much associated with the Long Beach Grand Prix as the “Emperor of the Beach.” But after the crowds went home, Al Jr. had to deal with many family tragedies, including the breakup of his marriage, and eventually sought treatment for his alcoholism. Cody’s father is racing again, and he remains an enthusiastic supporter of his daughter. Cody and brother Al’s obvious integrity are certainly a reflection of the love both parents have for their children.
It is Cody’s mother, Shelley Unser, who has been so instrumental in helping her daughter deal with her condition and it was Shelley who helped Cody start her foundation, Cody Unser’s First Step Foundation. When Cody became ill in February 1999, her father was preparing to race in the IROC at the Daytona 500. He was replaced in that race by Bobby Labonte, who donated his IROC earnings from that race to start CUFSF. Eight years later, the Foundation is the centerpiece in Cody Unser’s life, and what a life it has become.
When we first speak, Cody is busy with papers and finals for the sophomore year at the University of Redlands in the coming week, because the Foundation is presenting a major symposium at the University of New Mexico’s School of Medicine. Unser is able to focus on running her foundation while carrying a full time class load because she is enrolled in Redland’s innovative Johnston Center for Integrative Studies. At the Johnston Center, students design their own majors and write contracts for their course work. Because of this, some of Cody’s coursework has dealt with a subject that is now very close to her heart, namely, stem cell research.
For many years, actor Christopher Reeve was the most prominent proponent of stem cell research in the United States. Unser was able to meet Chris Reeve and learned at his side the intricacies of fund raising and advocacy for the paralyzed. Most scientists searching for a cure are convinced that the chances of Cody’s and others being able to walk again depend directly upon the advancement of stem cell research. Reeve was able to get federal funding dramatically increased during his lifetime. With his death in 2004 and his wife Dana’s passing in 2006, Cody Unser is now stem cell research’s most visible face as she races for a cure.
Unlike other major foundations, CUFSF has no big board of directors charged with fund raising and accumulating press clippings. As she says, “it’s a crazy wild ride,” and she and Shelley have had to learn as they go. It’s an approach that has its own particular set of advantages. For example, when it came time for Cody to drive, she discovered that there weren’t a lot of programs that taught how to operate hand controls. As she continues her quest to “redefine normal,” of course Cody wanted to have a much cooler set of wheels than the expected “handicapped van”… Today, she drives an Audi A3 which allows her to lift her chair. But, when she began driving several years ago, she discovered that even finding hand controls she could use in modifying her vehicle of choice were difficult.
Fortunately for Cody, her brother Al (“Just Al” or Al III) went online and found her first hand controls which allowed her to avoid the dreaded handicapped van. It seemed a simple solution for her driving was always going to be a hassle until she met Daniel Reyes, President of RediAuto Sport, whose company markets Soft Touch hand controls in the US. While widely used in Europe and endorsed by former Champ Car driver Alex Zanardi, who lost his legs in a horrific racing accident in 2001, Soft Touch is relatively new here. Cody explained to me that it works with an accelerator ring behind the steering wheel. In the week before Long Beach, Cody raced at Irwindale Speedway in the Redi Auto Track Challenge 2007 and of course loved every minute of the experience. Reyes drove a specially equipped pace car as part of the Long Beach Grand Prix, so we hope we don’t have to wait too much longer to see Cody Unser take her own first laps at the Beach.
Whether it’s being able to race or being able to live independently, it is clear that Cody Unser is well on her way to her goals. As I frequently said at the height of her father’s career, it’s never (there’s that word again) a good idea to count Al out, no matter what happens. Well, I think it’s also never a good idea to count his daughter Cody out, either. She has enough energy and determination for 10 people, and she is mature enough, even at a relatively young age, to realize that while her paralysis is unfortunate, there have been benefits even so. She’s been able to see the world, meet Christopher Reeve, and accomplish more than any other 20 year old that I know. Moreover, it’s made her the woman she is today.
So, remember, never say never to Cody Unser. She said she’d never have a boyfriend, but I am quite sure a certain gentleman is very grateful that’s no longer true. Cody said she’d never be involved in racing, but there she was, just last week, out on a race track. Driving fast with her legendary “lead hand” and trying to be faster than everyone else. I think that’s called racing, and if there’s one thing this country loves, it’s an Unser racing. And the doctors who told her that she’s never going to walk again? Well, my money along with my prayers is with Cody Unser. I’m just betting that if anyone can, she will.
after the video Jim Elliot founder of Diveheart, told the students about a project that Northwestern University is working on. its kind of a ventilator scuba rig. After seeing Matt on the video of the TODAY show they wanted to make a ventilator that can be attached to the dive tanks and allow Matt to dive to a deeper level,(Oh did I tell you that Matt Johnston, has what they call Duchenne’s Muscular Dystroyphy and is a Quadriplegic wheel chair bound).
