Oh my God.

You just would not believe the experience in the water, and you hear the bubble, bubble, bubble, of the bubbles going behind.

And then youre seeing all this wildlife And youre seeing the wonderful colors, but you're experiencing it with somebody that you cherish.

It's just an incredible feeling.

Its surreal.

So even though I can't see, that's a cool goal for me.

[bubbles] Denver Adaptive Divers is a program set up to take those that have physical or cognitive disabilities, train them how to scuba dive, and then take them for a week of diving in the Caribbean.

[talking] Scuba diving has the power to be a life changing event.

So a lot of those folks don't think that they have the opportunity to do this or even think they can do it.

And then when we sit there and show them the way, and, and get them trained and go, it truly is a life-changing experience for them.

It's going to be an awesome, awesome experience.

and I pity the folks that are around me.

[laughs] [piano music] If you talk to Bob a lot, he'll talk so much about his dad.

Before his accident, him and his dad did a lot of diving together.

Off the back of the boat, just right here, it's gonna be about between 20 and 30 ft deep.

Just in this little area over here.

The tops of the coral heads behind our boat are... And I think Bob is just trying to enjoy diving again.

[air clearing] No problem.

My dad.

He was my hero.

He ended up having a tour chasing typhoons out of Guam.

My father said, “Well, okay now, this is what we're going to do.

We're going to pick up this thing called SCUBA.” And I'm going, “Okay, I'm all for it.” ...a peaceful, zen environment, because youre really just... the only thing you hear is the bubbles around you.

Yeah.

With Bob, the hardest thing movement.

We one have to lift his wheelchair with him on it into the boat.

One two three!

And then we have to strap a harness on to him, and he requires three people to dive with him.

Dont worry about it, buddy.

[purging air] Protect your mask and your regulator as you roll forward.

[purging] All right.

One two Cowabunga!

We have to take full control of him underwater.

Right.

Yeah, I'll get on this side.

So the person who is behind his tank, theyre basically his primary driver.

[bubbles] When you're driving somebody in the water, you've got to have their total trust.

So what I'm doing basically is driving somebody in the water.

I'm doing every aspect of the diving experience for them.

Im regulating their buoyancy, I'm regulating the depth, clearing their mask, clearing their ears.

Typically when you scuba dive, they say, “Put your arms down by your waist and use your pumpers,” your big legs.

And I'm going, “Well, I'm going to be a little slow, because I don't have big pumpers.” Your glove is going on.

So I now have gloves that are webbed.

And so I can, you know, give it one of these things.

So I look a little goofy.

I can't see, so it dont matter to me.

[breathing] The two other people will be more-so paying attention to his eyes and the signals that his eyes are giving, and also watching for his hands for the predetermined hand signals that we've come up with.

But you'll you'll feel me kind of come up and grab your hand.

Ok, and depending on what I have I may be holding it And depending on what I have, I may be holding it with the other hand.

[plucky music] [bubbles] It was about 2 a.m., and I believe that they were a little bit on the lit side.

[They] crossed the medium and T-boned us.

I ended up having a broken vertebra.

And my right leg was starting to go numb, and when I got done with the surgery, I come out and I'm blind.

There are many things I will never be able to do again.

I'm not going to walk again, I know that.

However, I can find environments that I don't need to walk and still have fun, i.e.

scuba diving.

It's a way to feel free, and its cool that you get to do it will all these other people that have the same passion as you.

My smile went from this ear to this ear, and I was almost crying I was so happy when I got out of the water.

I just had a blast, and I'm going, “This is doable.

Therefore, I am going to do it.” There are many things in life that are obstacles.

However, for the most part, anything that I've ever wanted to do, I was successful at it.

And that's because of the people that supported me and helped me get where I was going.

When you're wheeling around in a chair, people go, “Oh my God, that poor guy.” And I have to say, “You have no idea.” Do not let other people dictate how you feel.

Where you find deficiencies in life, you find the opportunities for growth.

I think that sums it up.

[waves breaking]