At Sub Sea Systems, we promote our Sea TREK underwater helmet diving eco-tours as a way for just about anyone to “Sea life like never before”. We’ve shown the magic of the underwater world to thousands of children, seniors, and families, for over thirty years! It is one of our goals to reach out to more and more sea explorer novices, knowing that when they take an incredible helmet dive, they will learn to love and appreciate…and hopefully help to protect our precious aquatic environment.
The Beginning
Native Diving, a Sea TREK location in Lanzarote, Spain was the first to implement a “sea chair” called Adapted Sea TREK. The specialized wheelchair was developed by the instructors at Native Diving Lanzarote in collaboration with Novaf Andalucia, a leading company in the development of specific devices for people with reduced mobility. The program at Native Diving has been such a success, that it has inspired Sub Sea Systems to develop Adapted Sea TREK and make it available to Sea TREK operators around the world.
The Development
In August, our company President, Jim Mayfield traveled with a newly designed and engineered chair, from our headquarters in California to Xcaret Park in Mexico. For its anticipated debut at the park, Jim and the crew at Xcaret planned for the training and certification of staff on the Adapted program.
The Meeting
While Jim was in Mexico, he happened to meet a woman sitting in a wheelchair along the shore. Jim introduced himself to the woman, Anita, and discovered that she had been in an automobile accident that led to her paralysis. Jim conversed with Anita, explaining Adapted Sea TREK and offering her the exciting opportunity of going underwater at Xcaret. Anita enthusiastically accepted his offer of taking this very unique journey.
On August 15th, our team headed back to Mexico to train and certify staff, and to take Anita on the very first Adapted Sea TREK tour at Xcaret. Javier Fortunato, Regional Coordinator and Keenan Mayfield, Director of Sea TREK Field Operations, met with Anita, her husband Reidar, and nurse Mariana, and accompanied them to Xcaret. And the journey began!
The Journey
With Xcaret’s media team ready to photograph and film, a gung-ho Anita rolled her electric wheelchair up to the Adapted chair, while Keenan and Javi explained the chair’s functionality. The Adapted chair features adjustable lumbar support in combination with adjustments to the seat back position, to ensure participants’ comfort. It also incorporates shoulder straps, utilized to keep participants securely in place. Since Anita could not use hand signals due to her physical challenges, the team shared techniques on how they could communicate underwater. Anita used crossing arms to signal to the crew if she wanted to stop the activity. A nod of her head meant she was doing great and wanted to continue.
The team gently wheeled the Adapted chair, and Anita, into the water, with safety divers in front of and behind the chair. Next came the Sea TREK helmet– staff placed the helmet on Anita’s shoulders and supported it on both sides until it was completely underwater. Donning another helmet, Reidar joined his wife, walking by her side.
Once Anita was underwater, her expression was one of joy and happiness. She was able to freely move her arms and would not stop moving. The 20-minute tour meandered around coral features filled with marine life. After completing the tour with her husband, Anita enthusiastically opted to go again with her nurse, Mariana. Once the second tour completed, Anita emerged with an ear-to-ear smile. The inaugural first (and second) tour had been a huge success!
The team took Anita, Reidar and Mariana to lunch, then walked them back to their car. Emotional goodbyes and a promise to meet again ended the afternoon.
The Experience
After her TREK, we asked Anita to share her experience:
“I am filled with overwhelming gratitude to the people of Sea TREK for their ingenuity and commitment in providing this opportunity to me. My first experience underwater in over 25 years proved to be more than I ever expected, in that my physical limitations seemed completely insignificant. The staff and crew were extremely helpful, patient and thorough, allowing me to relax and enjoy the beauty and serenity of life underwater. The specially designed helmet and chair will now allow people living with physical disabilities around the world to experience this same joy. I’ll look forward to more trips back to Xcaret and Sea TREK! A very special thank you to Jim, Keenan and Javi!”
Reidar also shared his perspective.
"I was impressed by the professionalism and care shown to us by all of the Xcaret and Sea TREK staff. They seemed to be enjoying the experience as much as we were. Watching Nita beam with joy was the greatest thing that I experienced that day. That is the happiest I have seen her since the births of our grandsons 16 years ago. Giving disabled people an opportunity to experience the things that we take for granted is inspiring and helps them feel special and normal at the same time. Thanks to Jim for providing the synchronicity to make this happen.”
Keenan also added his thoughts on the special TREK:
“I am truly humbled to have shared such an incredible experience with an exceptional human being. Despite formidable odds, Anita lives life with no boundaries, both mentally and physically. With the introduction of Adapted Sea TREK, physical disabilities will no longer hinder a guest’s ability to explore our oceans. We look forward to broadening the horizon of what is possible for guests with physical disabilities through Adapted Sea TREK. I look forward to another underwater adventure with my new friend very soon.”
Our team members will be connecting with Anita and Reidar in October to take them on another amazing Adapted Sea TREK journey! Stay tuned for more updates as the Adapted Sea TREK program continues to develop.
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