Page 50 - QARANC The Gazette Spring 2023

50 The Gazette QARANC Association
Diving with the Injured:
‘Life is short so live it to the full’
Cpl Edrika Lewis reports back from the Maldives, where a group of personnel took part in a dive with the injured.
On the 3 December 2022, bags packed, loaded onto the minibus and we headed to Heathrow airport, for a week of scuba diving in the Maldives. Our group consisted of 28 included consultants, doctors, nurses, ODP, Royal Engineer Diver, RLC Officer, Army Education Corps Officer and injured service personnel.
I have a passion for scuba diving, which most people can’t quite grasp. It is relaxing, there is peace and tranquillity and most importantly it
is fun. I got the opportunity to go on the Diving
With the Injured trip to help them see that their amputation/mental health will not and cannot define them, they are in control.
I accept that a Wounded Injured Solider (WIS) faces challenges every day of their lives. Making assumptions about how they adapt is beyond my understanding, but whilst on the trip, I got a bit more insight into how they have coped.
barely make 30 minutes on a good day. They are much better divers than the able bodied individuals that I have dived with. They are at one with the water, if you are not careful, you
would think they are actually a fish in human form. We did a variation of dives, reef, wall wreck and drift diving. On certain reef dives, due to the current, we had to “hook” onto the reef, an experience that I personally have not done. There were a wide variety of fish, sharks, manta ray, eagle ray, nudibranch,
hawksbill turtles, octopus.
I spoke to a few wounded injured soldiers (WIS) on
the trip, and they agreed to share their experiences, some named and others anonymously.
Bob Monkhouse lost a leg in Bosnia and found diving to be an epiphany moment. He was happy to be in water where there was no fear of falling over. He loves the “banter, the camaraderie, and the mickey taking – just like in the military”.
Dan Phillips was injured in Afghanistan in 2012. He came under heavy fire and he dived for cover. Due to weight he was carrying the disc in his back ruptured. During rehab, he was informed about another charity that took injured veterans scuba diving. Dan explained that “floating along in warm water and watching the fishes go by is the most therapeutic thing” he has experienced. It showed him that the world is a beautiful place, and he believes it has saved his life. He has been on three trips so far and loved every second.
Alex Brewer lost his leg in Afghanistan in 2011. He can dive despite having a metal plate in his remaining leg. He wants other injured personnel to be open minded about taking part and never to think of themselves as a hindrance to others. “Injury doesn’t dictate what you can and cannot do,” he says.
As a nurse, we work with patients with all
of injuries (road accidents, falling down the stairs, getting hands caught in a combine harvester!) but unless you were at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) during the Iraq and Afghanistan war, you would not have had patients who have had injuries like those that were on this trip to the Maldives. These service men laid their life on the line for Queen (at the time) and Country and hold their heads high.
Arriving in the Maldives, we were collected by the Emperor dive team and boarded the dhoni boat to the Emperor Elite aka a floating hotel. When we went diving, the dhoni came alongside and we climbed into it.
They put on scuba gear, jump in the water, and go diving for up to 60 minutes under the water. I can
sorts
Banter, the camaraderie, and the mickey taking – just like in the military
Stuart Lawson was injured in 2017 in Pembrokeshire