Diveheart Newsflash Feature Story

By Jessica

This last summer I got the opportunity of a lifetime! Diveheart and Shriners Hospital for Children took four other teenagers and myself scuba diving in Key Largo , FL for the very first time. I had no idea how this experience would affect my life.

I was seventeen when I was paralyzed in a dry land diving accident while working on my diving form at a local gymnastics center. My goal was to improve my skills for the high school diving team. My life changed in the blink of an eye. After seeing hundreds of doctors at nine different hospitals across the country spanning from Mayo Clinic in Rochester , MI all the way to the University of Miami in Miami , FL , I found Shriners Hospital for Children in the windy city of Chicago , IL. After being affiliated with Shriners, I became affiliated with Diveheart.

Sara Klaas, the care coordinator at Shriners, asked me one day, “Hey, do you wanna go scuba diving?” I thought she joking at the time. I replied, “Of course I would, but I am paralyzed.” She then began to tell me about Diveheart, a nonprofit organization that takes kids and teenagers with disabilities scuba diving for a week at a tropical location.

The week I spent scuba diving with Diveheart was one of the most memorable and amazing weeks of my life, and it wasn't just the scuba diving that was amazing. It was the people involved with Diveheart that volunteer their time, their money, and their knowledge to the kids who so eagerly want to learn and experience scuba diving. These people are the most generous, caring, and unselfish people I have ever met. Scuba diving itself was unbelievable; the critters we saw swimming with us, swimming with sharks, exploring the tiniest bit of shell or coral on the ocean floor. It was a whole new world underwater. But, the real experience was making new friends and making fabulous memories.

Becoming certified with my open water certification was an accomplishment that I am truly proud of. Who knew that a paralyzed, girly girl, who put on makeup and jewelry just to go scuba diving, could put on a spandex wet suit (which was a challenge I might add!) and swim with sharks, and get all sticky with that horrible, sea salt, fish smell? I cannot wait until the next time I go scuba diving, and believe me that's going to be our next family vacation!

As for me now, I have started my freshman year of college at the University of Southern Indiana . I am double majoring in Public Relations and Advertising with a double minor in Journalism and Marketing. I recently moved to Louisville to start a program called the Locomotor program, which is a new type of therapy. I remain a full time student via the Internet. I hope this program can aid in my recovery process. I hope next time I go scuba diving I will be able to kick my feet through the water!!