An adaptive scuba diving group based in Provo helped a quadriplegic man become scuba certified in a Midway hot spring.
The Homestead Crater’s water temperature stays between 90 and 96 degrees, making it the perfect spot for scuba dive training even during the cold winter months.
Nathan Ogden, along with his wife and other family members, had spent a week in Utah, visiting from Idaho to work on becoming scuba certified.
He and his wife, Heather, co-founded Chair the Hope, a nonprofit organization that provides wheelchairs to people worldwide, after Nathan Ogden became a quadriplegic while snow skiing.
“I was 26 years old, married with two little kids and I went snow skiing in Bend, Oregon. I came off a jump wrong, ended up 30 feet in the air, landed on my neck and it paralyzed me,” he said.
Ogden broke his neck again a year later while at the hospital. He lost the use of his hands, triceps and everything from the chest down.
“I just figured, anyone can break their neck once. You gotta be the best, you gotta do it twice,” Ogden joked.
He has not lost his sense of humor or his drive to participate in exciting sports. The BYU TV show, "Random Acts," featured Ogden scuba diving with sharks in the Bahamas. While he was there, he realized how peaceful he felt underwater.
“There’s something about being under the water,” he said. “You can breathe, you’re fine, you’re not dying. It’s a whole new world.”
Ogden dives with the help of Just Breathe Adaptive Scuba, a nonprofit based in Provo that certifies both adaptive divers and adaptive dive buddies, people trained to assist with adaptive dives.
Robin Knight founded Just Breathe after meeting a woman training to be an adaptive dive buddy in Hawaii. Knight had spent the week with Ogden and his family helping them become scuba certified.
“He’s courageous, he’s brave, he’s generous,” Knight said. “He’s adventurous, he’s willing to try anything but he’s also a fantastic advocate for himself.”
Ogden, Knight and other adaptive dive buddies from Just Breathe and Diveheart, another adaptive diving nonprofit based in Illinois, prepared to dive in Homestead Crater.
With assistance, Ogden geared up and soon the group was off. This dive was Ogden’s final requirement to become certified.
“I can do it, I'll enjoy it. we’ll have fun with my family doing it. But the success to me would be that somebody sees this and they want to go try it.”
As for what’s next, Ogden wants to dive in the ocean again, see the northern lights and go bungee jumping.
“There’s plenty of excuses as to why you can’t do something. Start focusing on the reasons why you should,” he said.
Now that he and his family are scuba certified, Ogden and his family are wondering where to visit and dive first.