Dear Friend of Diveheart,
I remember the last time I cried. I was underwater. I was looking
up at a young Marine who had been rendered a quadriplegic with a
traumatic brain injury by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Diveheart & DMW (Diveheart Military Wounded) was offering an introduction to scuba experience for disabled veterans. The 23 year old Marine I mentioned was one of the participants.
As I was pointing the camera up at him while he first began breathing
on SCUBA, (he wore a full face mask since he couldnÃÕ hold a regulator
in his mouth), the ambient light reflected off his dog tags and caught my damp eye as I snapped the picture. He was still wearing those dog tags almost two years after his injury?
At that moment, this marine became a real-life symbol to me of the tens of thousands of men & women in service who have lost the ability to do many of the things they did before their traumatic injuries changed their lives forever. Imagine the broken relationships, lost loves, careers and opportunities not to mention the family upheaval these new circumstances bring to these individuals.
It is the same with thousands of young high school girls and boys who are the victims of car accidents or viruses that leave them looking up at us from a wheelchair for the rest of their lives.
At Diveheart, our mission is to build confidence & independence in these children, adults & veterans with disabilities through the sport of scuba diving. We hope to create a paradigm shift in the way they look at themselves and the way others look at them. We help them focus on what they can do instead of what they can not do.
Almost to a person, when they come back from one of DiveheartÃÔ life changing scuba adventures they say, Ūf I can scuba dive©ª can do anything? Suddenly, they transform from someone who is identified as disabled or in a wheelchair to someone who is identified as a scuba diver.
With a worldwide army of volunteers, Diveheart (a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization ) has become a leader in disabled dive training and has helped to facilitate similar programs around the globe.
We realize that this year it will be more difficult for many to give, but at Diveheart we will not retreat in our efforts to serve those with disabilities. In fact, we anticipate creating more programs in the year to come.
You can help make a difference in the lives of those who Diveheart serves with a financial gift of $50 or more. This will give one disabled participant a scuba experience. $1,200 will enable one individual to become certified and taken on a lifechanging scuba adventure trip to the Florida Keys. You, your family and friends, dive club, church or community group can also come together to support this effort in a bigger way. If you love diving?share that love as we do with someone who
will benefit from it for a lifetime.
Thank you for your support,
Signed Jim Elliot
I remember the last time I cried. I was underwater. I was looking
up at a young Marine who had been rendered a quadriplegic with a
traumatic brain injury by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Diveheart & DMW (Diveheart Military Wounded) was offering an introduction to scuba experience for disabled veterans. The 23 year old Marine I mentioned was one of the participants.
As I was pointing the camera up at him while he first began breathing
on SCUBA, (he wore a full face mask since he couldnÃÕ hold a regulator
in his mouth), the ambient light reflected off his dog tags and caught my damp eye as I snapped the picture. He was still wearing those dog tags almost two years after his injury?
At that moment, this marine became a real-life symbol to me of the tens of thousands of men & women in service who have lost the ability to do many of the things they did before their traumatic injuries changed their lives forever. Imagine the broken relationships, lost loves, careers and opportunities not to mention the family upheaval these new circumstances bring to these individuals.
It is the same with thousands of young high school girls and boys who are the victims of car accidents or viruses that leave them looking up at us from a wheelchair for the rest of their lives.
At Diveheart, our mission is to build confidence & independence in these children, adults & veterans with disabilities through the sport of scuba diving. We hope to create a paradigm shift in the way they look at themselves and the way others look at them. We help them focus on what they can do instead of what they can not do.
Almost to a person, when they come back from one of DiveheartÃÔ life changing scuba adventures they say, Ūf I can scuba dive©ª can do anything? Suddenly, they transform from someone who is identified as disabled or in a wheelchair to someone who is identified as a scuba diver.
With a worldwide army of volunteers, Diveheart (a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization ) has become a leader in disabled dive training and has helped to facilitate similar programs around the globe.
We realize that this year it will be more difficult for many to give, but at Diveheart we will not retreat in our efforts to serve those with disabilities. In fact, we anticipate creating more programs in the year to come.
You can help make a difference in the lives of those who Diveheart serves with a financial gift of $50 or more. This will give one disabled participant a scuba experience. $1,200 will enable one individual to become certified and taken on a lifechanging scuba adventure trip to the Florida Keys. You, your family and friends, dive club, church or community group can also come together to support this effort in a bigger way. If you love diving?share that love as we do with someone who
will benefit from it for a lifetime.
Thank you for your support,
Signed Jim Elliot
