close mate fighting to walk

[Newbie_spearo]

Hi All,

It's been a while since I've visited this forum, far too long actually! I used this forum to help with my introduction to spearfishing and freediving and it's in my opinion one of the best resources available to any budding diver!

It is with great sadness that I let everyone know that my closest dive buddy broke his c4-c5 roughly 2.5 weeks ago and is at present a quadriplegic in the spinal ward at the Austin hospital in Melbourne Australia. He had 2 lots of surgery and after the second time under the knife the surgeons were much happier about the result and said there is a good chance he will walk again.

At present he has very little movement below the neck, but as time goes on we are all hoping and praying that the shock from the trauma will subside allowing him more movement and hopefully again one day to dive the way he used to!

Dave is not a forum member, however when finger movement and dexterity return I will give him the link to get on here and introduce himself at his own speed.

Jono

 

[Apneaddict]

Sad to hear the news of your dive buddy, but rest assured that everyone here is wishing him all the best and hoping that things improve. It will take time and I'm sure it will be an emotional roller coaster (good days and bad).

At least as a diver he was likely in relatively good shape to begin with so that should help the recovery process.

He might want to get into the water (pool with a hoist) with a mask and snorkel (and a good friend / dive buddy) sooner than you think. Might be worth a shot.

Fingers crossed.


On a semi-related note, my uncle is a paraplegic and I showed him the free immersion video of Natalia from youtube and he was amazed. He thought that the sport might be something that he could try.

The weightlessness of the water helps to stretch him out (as gravity / compression takes its toll) and the yogic stretches really helps to keep things moving (blood flow, digestion, etc).

 

[vasile]

Sorry to hear that,hope Dave will get well soon and be back in the water and share all his experiences will all of us on the forum.

 

[ReefTroll]

Well Hi Dave! When you're in we'd love to get to know you some more!!