Paraplegic Army veterans to enjoy scuba diving for the first time

This is the first time the five heroes are going to experience scuba diving

No one knows the price of freedom more than Army veterans, who have fought hard to protect it, often at the cost of life and limb. Today, as the nation celebrates Independence Day, five paraplegic heroes will mark the day with a new, liberating experience - scuba diving.

All five have been wheelchair-bound after sustaining injuries to their spinal cord in the line of duty. They currently reside at the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre in Khirkee, Pune, and will visit Mumbai to go scuba diving.

Free of wheelchairs
"When a wheelchair-bound individual goes underwater, he or she is liberated from the chair. Under water, one is weightless and the slightest flick of a hand or a leg makes you move forward. This Independence Day, we want to give back to the Indian defence forces for keeping us safe and protecting our freedom," said Kshitij Mittal, founder of Pune-based Finkick Adventures, which has organised the underwater adventure for the jawans.

First time
Mittal is a trained disability diving instructor and has already spent four practice sessions coaching the veterans in Pune. The final dip will take place in Mumbai, however, at a much larger pool in Prabodhankar Thackarey Krida Sankul in Vile Parle.

This is the first time the jawans have gone scuba diving, but they are all accomplished para-athletes.

All five are members of the Indian Para-basketball team, which recently netted bronze in the fourth wheelchair basketball tournament in Bali.

And, it's not all that uncommon for disabled persons to try scuba diving. "There are various individuals and organisations dedicated to this around the world. India has at least three centres and various instructors working to introduce the beauty of the underwater world to persons with disabilities. We take pride in being pioneers in India and working with the largest number of disabled people till date," said Mittal, who founded Finkick Adventures six years ago with Ankit Saboo. Together, they also orgainsed India's first ever underwater festival, and put together the country's first underwater hockey team.

"This event will prove that with proper training, rehabilitation and assistive aids, any individual with disability can match and excel an able-bodied person," said Mittal.