Denver scuba school teaches adaptive diving techniques for all

DENVER (KDVR) — The last thing paraglider Ryan Strong thought would ever happen while chasing the wind was crashing.

But he did crash, and crash hard.

“I just got a little too acrobatic that day. Did a trick, kind of did a 360 too close to the hill, thinking I had the height to do it. Hindsight, stupid move,“ said Strong.

For a man with a spirit like an eagle, the thought of spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair was unthinkable.

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“Yeah, it was a tough pill to swallow,“ said Strong.

A friend told Strong about a scuba school, Denver Divers, and its Denver Adaptive Diver program. They teach those living with disabilities how to scuba dive.

“We actually started about seven years ago when one of our customers came in and gave us the suggestion,” said John Sherman, co-owner of Denver Divers. “We like the idea because we are a successful shop and we wanted to give back. And where we give back is how to teach scuba.“

In addition to teaching able-bodied people the skills of scuba diving, the Denver Adaptive Diver program for the last seven years has been teaching people living with disabilities to scuba dive. That includes obtaining the coveted open water diver certification.

Ryan Strong successfully learned to scuba dive through the program. He’s been at it for several years now and is a certified open-water diver himself.

“They are looking at potentially having the first-ever adaptive dive instructor come out of the shop, and they are looking at me as a candidate,” said Strong.

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