Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
Deaf teenager dives to new feat - Hawkes Bay Today - Jan 13 2007 5:02AM - localnews
Tristan Butler is not your average 15-year-old.
Despite being born deaf, he has defied the odds to pass his PADI Open Water dive course with flying colours, which is believed to be a first in New Zealand.
Divers rely on hand signals to understand each other, so once he is under the water Tristan is on an equal level with his diving buddies.
"I'm hoping to do lots more diving in the future and I'm really looking forward to seeing what fish and creatures are out there," he said.
Tristan and the rest of his class have been learning their diving techniques and skills at Dive HQ in Ahuriri, as well as spending two days in the dive pool and doing two dives in Lake Taupo.
They finished off with two dives on Pania Reef. Dive HQ managing director Andrew Harry said Tristan's qualification will allow him to dive with a buddy up to 30m deep, which he said was a pretty amazing feat.
"Tristan has a cochlea implant which is placed in his skull. It bypasses the ears and sends the sounds directly to the brain," said Mr Harry.
"I think this could be the first time anyone in New Zealand has ever been diving with a cochlea implant. It's a struggle for him to cope with most things on the social side of life.
"But diving is something he's been hell-bent on right from the start.
"When he was given the study book to read, he read it four times cover to cover and he's been a star pupil. He's fitted in really well with the rest of the class," Mr Harry said.
Tristan Butler is not your average 15-year-old.
Despite being born deaf, he has defied the odds to pass his PADI Open Water dive course with flying colours, which is believed to be a first in New Zealand.
Divers rely on hand signals to understand each other, so once he is under the water Tristan is on an equal level with his diving buddies.
"I'm hoping to do lots more diving in the future and I'm really looking forward to seeing what fish and creatures are out there," he said.
Tristan and the rest of his class have been learning their diving techniques and skills at Dive HQ in Ahuriri, as well as spending two days in the dive pool and doing two dives in Lake Taupo.
They finished off with two dives on Pania Reef. Dive HQ managing director Andrew Harry said Tristan's qualification will allow him to dive with a buddy up to 30m deep, which he said was a pretty amazing feat.
"Tristan has a cochlea implant which is placed in his skull. It bypasses the ears and sends the sounds directly to the brain," said Mr Harry.
"I think this could be the first time anyone in New Zealand has ever been diving with a cochlea implant. It's a struggle for him to cope with most things on the social side of life.
"But diving is something he's been hell-bent on right from the start.
"When he was given the study book to read, he read it four times cover to cover and he's been a star pupil. He's fitted in really well with the rest of the class," Mr Harry said.