Adaptive sports program allows people with disabilities
to safely paddle the local waters
http://www.record-eagle.com/2001/aug/01canoe.htm
August 1, 2001
TRAVERSE CITY - When Traverse City
resident Tom Barnhart suffered a stroke more than three years ago, he thought
his days of water activities were over.
Copyright © The Traverse City
Record-Eagle
By SHELLEY R. BURGESS
Record-Eagle staff writer
But thanks to the Northern Michigan
Adaptive Sports and Recreation program and volunteers from the Cherry Capital
Paddle America Club, Barnhart and 11 others with disabilities were out
kayaking on Brown Bridge Pond Tuesday.
Twenty volunteers worked diligently
in the afternoon heat and humidity Tuesday to launch 26 kayaks onto Brown
Bridge Pond.
Twelve participants, each with disabilities
such as blindness, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and stroke, were
given the chance to kayak while a "buddy" followed along in another boat
.
"When (they) get into a kayak, nobody
knows what their disability is," said Ann Reichert, volunteer and coordinator
of the event. "It kind of gives them a freedom they don't have on land."
Barnhart, 61, had enjoyed sailing
before suffering from a stroke in January of 1998.
"When I had the stroke, I figured
I was done with water activities," he said. "Then, when I tried this, I
found I could get back to the water."
Barnhart went on his first kayaking
excursion in 2000 and hopes to continue.
"With these people, it's safe,"
he said, referring to the volunteers helping out with Tuesday's kayaking
trip.
This was the second kayaking trip
for Jacqui Schlueter, 16, of Suttons Bay, who is usually confined to a
wheelchair.
"It was fun," she said, adding that
she really likes the people involved.
This program is not a rehabilitation
program, said Reichert, who works as a physical therapist at Munson Medical
Center.
Reichert said she got involved because
"this is just kind of an extension of my interest in getting people as
independent and doing as many things in the community as they possibly
can."
Phil Curtis, president of the Cherry
Capital Paddle America Club, said he and other members of the club became
involved at the request of the adaptive sports organization.
"Our club is a source of instruction
and volunteers who are trained to show people how to rescue themselves
and rescue others when they capsize on their kayak or canoe," Curtis said.
Curtis and another member of the
club were able to design an adaptation for one participant who was wheelchair-bound.
The Northern Michigan Adaptive Sports
and Recreation, a program run through Vital Choice at Munson, allows people
with physical disabilities to enjoy a number of sports including water
and snow skiing, canoeing, kayaking and golf, among others.
For more information about the Northern
Michigan Adaptive Sports and Recreation program, call Reichert at 935-8684.