Central Brace & Limb hosted a First Dive Intro to Scuba Clinic on March 4 at the Avon High School pool facilities in Avon, Ind. First Dive is a program of the Orthotic & Prosthetic Activities Foundation (OPAF), which offers adaptive recreation opportunities to those with physical challenges.
Central Brace & Limb sponsored the First Dive clinic for their patients and the community with the assistance of Midwest Scuba in Avon. Midwest Scuba owner Tom Kepler and his staff volunteered their time and provided the equipment for the clinic. Clinic participants came from the Indianapolis area and from as far away as Ohio and Illinois for the chance to try adaptive scuba. Instruction was overseen by Stacey Minton, Scuba Schools International Instructor Certifier in adaptive scuba.
More than 30 attendees were on hand to watch and assist as more than a dozen amputees and spinal cord injury survivors gave scuba a try. Diver Tonya Johnson was very nervous about the chance to try scuba, but she found that her instructor was very patient. Her husband remarked “I never thought I would ever see my wife be comfortable under water like this.”
The 2-hour clinic gave everyone the chance to try scuba and see if it might be a sport that they would like to continue to pursue. For more information on OPAF & The First Clinics, visit www.opfund.org.
