When BSAC National Instructor Tom Burton contracted multiple sclerosis his diving career looked to be over...

Last year's BSAC Diving Officers' Conference was a memorable one for Tom Burton. "I felt very proud when I was presentewith a brass diver's knife and received a standing ovation from the assembled delegates," he says. "Though I really wanted to continue diving, I believed it to be impossible, as the previous year I had contracted multiple sclerosis and was confined to a wheelchair."
Since contracting MS, Tom, who had been a well-known National Instructor, had undertaken no more than a swim. Instructors from the Lifeguard Branch had taken him to a local pool: "The feeling of being in the water was good but it was very tiring trying to keep my head up."
Then Phil Smith, an instructor friend who also has MS, asked Tom to help out with the BSAC disabled awareness pilot scheme. The resulting weekend in Leeds, with presentations and lively discussions, proved a positive experience. "It was a superb event which shared knowledge about disability and diving with valuable input from both attendees and instructors," says Tom. And it was at Leeds that he got kitted up again. "I was delighted to discover that I could still carry out pool skills - mask-clearance, DV retrieval and buoyancy control."
The next step was at Poole, where he was able to spend a whole session in the pool and even managed a successful controlled buoyant lift. "I decided soon after this that I would try to get on a diving trip abroad. Open-water diving in this country would be too cold and difficult with my disability." Tom's first choice, Cuba, had to be ruled out as there was so little information available about disabled awareness or facilities there.
Then he heard about the Scuba-Trust, a new charity that had linked up with specialist travel company Going Down! to fix up training and diving for people with disabilities.
From its expedition programme he selected Egypt's Sharm el Sheikh: "It was a place I had visited many times before and I knew the diving to be good and the water warm!"
Departure was set for May. "I couldn't wait to go but my main worry was whether I'd be fit enough to dive in open water again."
At Gatwick Tom and wife Sandra met up with the other nine members of the group. The three in wheelchairs, including Tom, boarded the aircraft using a narrow "aisle" chair. "This made life easy," says Tom, "but unfortunately the Egyptian handlers at the other end were less enlightened and we had to be manhandled and physically carried from our seats down the aircraft steps to our wheelchairs, which was uncomfortable and rather degrading."
The organiser of the ScubaTrust and of the group was Leon Golding, a BSAC Advanced Instructor and an amputee. He subsequently had words with Monarch Airlines which resulted in it agreeing to buy an aircraft wheelchair to station in Sharm. The transfer to the Tropicana Hotel by taxi was straightforward. "The hotel was relatively wheelchair-friendly, which was a surprise for Egypt," says Tom. "The staff were very helpful and most difficulties were easily overcome, though we really needed a 4 x 4 wheelchair fitted with balloon tyres for the desert! But it was great to be back in a warm climate again."
The following morning the group reported to the Camel Dive Club in Na'ma Bay to sort out the admin - qualifications, medicals and weights - before being taken to the diveboat Horus 1. "We all got loaded, helped or lifted aboard and we were off in a belch of diesel smoke and sea spray..."

Day 1: Ras Kati
It was Tom's first time in open water for two years. Wearing a full wetsuit and jacket he went in with Phil Smith. "I was unable to get the right attitude in the water, weighting and buoyancy being coletely different from the old days. Attempts at doing all the things I previously did without thinking proved to be impossible."
The dive ended after four minutes when Tom was sick: "Perhaps it was the excitement!" It was time for a rethink. "I needed to relearn my skills, adapt to my disability and accept help and advice from those in the group who were more experienced about my situation than I was."

Day 2: Ras Bob
It was suggested that Tom use only his shortie wetsuit and adjust his attitude in the water using weights in the BC pocket and on a chest strap. He returned to the sea with Phil and his wife Julie. "We swam on the surface to a sandy patch near a large coral table. The descent was no trouble; I equalised and mask- cleared, though I did wonder whether I should keep my moustache."
Phil controlled Tom's descent to the sand and he was then able to concentrate on regaining buoyancy control. "My attitude in the water was now OK. I tried finning and moved - I was diving again!"
Tom was able to make out the fish, coral and colours in a dive that lasted 17 minutes, with a maximum depth of 9.4 metres. "I was elated!"

Day 3: White Knight
An additional 1kg weight on Tom's chest strap "worked wonders" when he dived for 31 minutes to 16.1m. "My skills were improving, I was feeling better and I could do more for myself. It was doing me good!"

Day 4: Shark Bay
Diving with Phil Smith and Leon Golding for 34 minutes, to a maximum depth of 16.3m, Tom report-ed seeing more fish and being able to recognise some, also finding it easier to propel himself along by finning. "More importantly I was under control, relaxed and enjoying the sensation of diving again."

Day 5: Ras Kati
The fifth day provided a revelation for Tom, diving with Phil, Leon and another ACI, Brenda Carey. It came in the shape of an SMB, its reel attached to the pillar valve on Tom's cylinder. This helped to compensate for the effects of his irregular breathing, and also took care of his slightly negative buoyancy.
On this dive Tom saw shoals of fish, including a large group of bat fish. "I was seeing more on each dive; my eyesight was improving," he says. "In addition, I felt my strength returning slightly and I was able to use my arms to swim and maintain better balance."

Day 6: The Quay
The same group dived on the last day, for 35 minutes to 20.4m. The SMB arrangement again worked perfectly. After a long swim to the site, at 3m to avoid the surface wind and currents, they descended to 20m and spent the remainder of the dive slowly ascending along a coral wall.
Visibility was less good than on previous dives, this being the southernmost point of the Sinai peninsula, where sea currents meet the freshwater lakes. But for Tom it was all coming together. "I was far more aware of myself and my surroundings than I had been on the first few days' diving," he says. "By watching other divers in the group I realised that my fin strokes were not big enough. With more effort my propulsion through the water increased, although I still used my hands for balance.
"I could identity lion fish, clown fish and orangestripe surgeonfish. For me this was the best dive of the whole week. I was a diver again!"
Tom Burton regarded his week in Sharm as just the start. "All my previously taken-for-granted skills are having to be learned from scratch; I know how a novice feels."
He draws various conclusions from his experience: "The instructor or buddy has to be aware, sympathetic and confident with regard to disability. The techniques used by able-bodied divers must be modified where necessary to suit particular needs. A parallel qualification of competence would be of value when training people with disabilities." This, he says, should indicate what students are able to achieve - not what they cannot do, as with conditional qualifications at present.
Dive sites need careful choosing, because beach or RIB diving would be difficult, currents impossible. The water needs to be warm, with a visible bottom. "The diving should be carefully controlled and organised: for example, I could not have done two dives a day," says Tom.
Will he do it again? "You bet! I have booked again for November." Is there life after disability?
"Definitely!"