Deptherapy can collection at ALBA Challenge Cup Final
Friday 8th April 2011
Disabled ex-Serviceman in the UK and America are being given a new lease of life thanks to an innovative charity set up by a G4S employee.
Edinburgh-based Fraser Bathgate has been in a wheelchair for nearly 20 years, after being badly injured in a climbing accident at the age of 23.
After a friend suggested he try scuba diving, Events Supervisor Fraser not only discovered he had a talent for it but that it had great therapeutic potential for disabled people.
After becoming the world’s first paraplegic diving instructor, Fraser founded Deptherapy, a charity that takes groups of 15 wounded British veterans and US Marines to the Florida Keys twice a year, and teaches them to dive.
His latest trip took place last month and Fraser told The Link: “Diving gives you the unique freedom of being able to move in a 360-degree environment and if you’re disabled, it is incredibly empowering.
“For the therapy to work best, the water needs to be warm, which is why Florida is perfect. Before going out to sea, we work in the pool and help them gain confidence and independence. We tailor the programme to meet the needs of every individual. On our last trip, we worked with a triple amputee and one of our past divers was quadriplegic.”
Fraser has become one of the world’s leading experts on weightlessness, has helped develop special diving gear and has even advised NASA on its spacesuit weighting systems. In 2002, he was the subject of a BBC documentary, as part of the Lives Less Ordinary series.
Deptherapy received charitable status in March, with G4S Events MD Mark Hamilton as patron and if you want to find out more about the work it does, you can visit the website at www.deptherapy.co.uk or email Arthur.Campbell@uk.g4s.com.
Deptherapy Article: The Link October 2010
**Charity can collection for Deptherapy will be at The ALBA Challenge Cup Final on Sunday.