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The dive of my life
Written by Sean on Wednesday, December 20, 2006
I watched a short documentary last night, called The Dive of my Life, by Frank Gardner. Frank is a journalist who was caught in a terrorist attack in 2004, and as a result became paraplegic. The documentary discussed his return to scuba diving in Egypt. It aroused an incredible sense of longing for me. It was incredibly "sweet & sour", talking about two things that are really dear to me: being paraplegic and scuba diving.
Floating in the water, freedom for all.
I started scuba diving when I was 17 years old. That’s over 20 years ago! Over the years I’ve been lucky to dive on the Australian Great Barrier Reef, in the Caribbeans, in Canada, in the UK, a bit all over. I’ve done dives in caves, shipwrecks, under ice, from shore, from boat, in waters that had 200′ visibility, and in waters that had only 3′ visibility. I encountered sharks, rays, dolphins, 100KG groupers, wee fishes and big fishies. No matter what the conditions hitting the water raises an incredible feeling of "coming home". It just feels right to be under water like that. Yet I haven’t been under-water for nearly 5 years now.
And as you know if you’ve read the stuff on this site, I’ve wanted to be paralysed since my youngest age.
So, this Frank Gardner… He’s a Brit. He’s a journalist. And he was unlucky enough to be shot 7 times during a terrorist attack in 2004. He’s undergone 13 or so surgeries and still has a couple bullets stuck in him. I must say, being shot is a very scary way to become a para. And I know many people who became paralysed because of gunshot wounds. Very scary. I actually remember the news report when he was injured, we thought he had been killed at first. It’s cool to see him back at work.
Exploring a reef.
We saw him go through medical re-certification "Fit to Dive", then some training in the pool, and finally diving in Egypt, in gloriously warm and clear water, abundant in fish life. Oh, how I wanted to be there, in the water with him. It was interesting to see him navigate the water, his legs weighted down because otherwise they’d be too light, so he was swimming, bent at the waist, legs drag-floating.
He commented that it was a very freeing environment for him, where he had total freedom of where he could go, up, down, sideways, no steps, no stairs. :)
At the end, my partner told me "I’m glad you’re not in his situation". I didn’t say anything to that. What could I say? I couldn’t say "Well, I’m not glad I’m not in his situation", because if she doesn’t get it by now, there’s just no point in stating the obvious, all over again. I said it before many times, I shouldn’t *have* to repeat myself.
One would think that after all this time, she would get it. Or at least accept it. I’m sure she means well and speaks out of love. I recognise that such an impairment does carry hardships, and that thinking about it logically, it is better not to be paralysed. But she doesn’t get it. She doesn’t really accept it. She keeps repeating that she hopes I don’t become paralysed. I don’t think she realises just how much it hurts for her to say that.
It hurts because in a way it’s being told that I’m wrong to be the way I am, that I should feel differently about it. And since I don’t have control over how I feel, it is a very frustrating experience.
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