The GoPro Family are gearing up for another IDC which starts this week. It’s hard to believe that we are about to start our third IDC of this year already.
In the meantime, The GoPro Family are keeping ourselves busy. Yesterday Angel finished the second day of our Disabled Divers’ International (DDI) Pro Trainer Course. For some people, they imagine that diving with a physical or mental disability is impossible. Of course this is not the case in fact many people with disabilities find that it is a great way to escape from the challenges they face on dry land, and scuba diving has been shown to be a considerable therapeutic and psychological benefit during the early phase of rehabilitation following injury and beyond.
The DDI Pro Trainer course trains Divemasters and Instructors to work with and teach disabled divers. It helps them to understand some of the challenges they face both in and out of the water, and the benefits that diving can give. By getting dive pros comfortable and equipped in disability diving it maximises the chances for everyone to dive, no matter what the disability.
We were delighted to have Leo Morales join us on this course. Leo is a bit of a celebrity around here, and indeed he is a familiar name to divers worldwide.
Leo’s right leg was amputated in 2008 after he developed an aggressive type of cancer and all other treatments failed. But Leo did not let that stop him and he continued his dive education and became a tec diver and cave diver. Last year he became a PADI Instructor, and he holds two world records for divers with disabilities – one for the deepest scuba dive (410 feet) and the other for the longest single dive on rebreather (8 hrs 15 mins).
Having Leo on the course certainly helped us to show that “disability is in the mind, not the body” and Angel, as well as the students, learnt a lot from him.
You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/aEMHQrGo-y8
The GoPro Family conducts regular courses for Divemaster and Instructors interested in learning more about this topic. We offer the PADI Adaptive Techniques Specialty as well as the DDI Pro Trainer course. Please use the Contact Us button below to send us a message and we will send you details of our forthcoming programs.