News
Father And Daughter Lead Wounded Warrior Diving Program
A father and daughter have teamed up to help give back to members of the United States military through their program Diving with Heroes.
Joe Brickey and Jill Hottel started the program as a way to help wounded veterans regain their lost sense of mobility via diving.
On their most recent trip to the Cayman Islands, several veterans talked about how the experience had given them an opportunity to do things in a way now limited on the surface.
“I may have limits on what I can do above water, but while diving there is nothing I cannot do,” said Marine Staff Sgt. Jade Sharrocks, who was wounded by a suicide bomber in Haditha, Iraq.
According to the group, the ultimate goal isn’t just to give the wounded vets a momentary reprieve, but to encourage them to carry that feeling and the drive that got them there into their everyday lives.
Brickey serves as chairman and CEO of Integrity Applications Incorporated, a company headquartered in Virginia that serves the software and engineering needs of companies, typically in civil engineering, defense, or the intelligence community.
The company, which Brickey co-founded in 1999, employs 600 people across the US and has a foundation which has a long history of supporting veteran-related activities and groups.
A 2013 meeting led to foundation members wanting to expand the reach further, which lead to the concept of Diving with Heroes.
“Diving with Heroes is a more targeted approach that we came up with to recognize the contributions of military personnel and military veterans who have sacrificed for our freedom,” said Brickey. “It emerged from a desire to serve these heroes and build a community where rehabilitation could take place.”
For her part, Hottel says her inspiration for the group came from her aunt, Janice Brickey.
Hottel explained that her aunt has been confined to a wheelchair due to paraplegia for as long as she’s known her, but that she skis and took her hand-pedaled bicycle forty miles the first time she rode it.
“A physical, mental or social disability doesn’t have to be a setback,” said Hottel. “My aunt’s example encouraged me to reach out to disabled veterans and help them explore the world beneath the waves.”
Source: tntoday.utk.edu
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
-
News3 months agoHone your underwater photography skills with Alphamarine Photography at Red Sea Diving Safari in March
-
News3 months agoCapturing Critters in Lembeh Underwater Photography Workshop 2024: Event Roundup
-
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs3 months agoCreature Feature: Swell Sharks
-
Blogs2 months agoMurex Resorts: Passport to Paradise!
-
Blogs2 months agoDiver Discovering Whale Skeletons Beneath Ice Judged World’s Best Underwater Photograph
-
Gear Reviews2 weeks agoGEAR REVIEW – Revolutionising Diving Comfort: The Sharkskin T2 Chillproof Suit
-
Marine Life & Conservation2 months agoSave the Manatee Club launches brand new webcams at Silver Springs State Park, Florida
-
Gear Reviews3 months agoGear Review: Oceanic+ Dive Housing for iPhone