 Disabled diver takes plunge to aid US troops
A DISABLED scuba diving instructor from Scotland has been recruited by the US government to help rebuild the shattered lives of soldiers injured in Iraq.
Fraser Bathgate, who was paralysed from the waist down after a climbing accident, has been headhunted by the American military to co-ordinate a pioneering programme to rehabilitate war casualties.
The 44-year-old, who defied the odds to become the world's first wheelchair-bound scuba instructor in 1994, says he is honoured his dive therapy has gained international recognition. But Bathgate, from Edinburgh, also revealed his frustration with the UK MoD, which he claims has rejected his offers to help wounded British troops.
Bathgate flies to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, tomorrow to lead a diving programme as part of the US military's Wounded Warrior initiative, which aims to rehabilitate those who have been injured in active service.
He has taught at many venues around the globe including the famous Missouri Spinal Unit where the late Superman actor Christopher Reeve received treatment after he was paralysed in a riding accident.
The former climber said: "I was completely amazed to be invited to come to Fort Campbell because I'm not American and I'm not in the military.
"My work there is going to be challenging, but I am really excited about it. Many of these guys have had limbs blown off and are quite seriously injured, but my goal is to teach them their lives are not over and they can still achieve things.
"The great thing about introducing them to diving is that they may be confined to wheelchairs but when they are in the water they are exactly the same as everyone else.
"It increases confidence and is a lot of fun and can open the door for people to try other things like skiing and even sky-diving."
Bathgate will be at the Kentucky military base for a week to pass on his skills and expertise to staff who will maintain the dive-therapy programmes in his absence. However, he is frustrated the British military has not extended a similar offer to him.
"I am hopeful my time at Fort Campbell will inspire the British government to do something similar, but every time I have made inquiries with the MoD about this they don't seem to want to talk about it," Bathgate said. "I think they need to be a bit more open and positive.
"The Americans are willing to invest a lot of money in trying to rehabilitate their troops. In Britain we only seem to hear about the soldiers who have been killed but I am sure there are lots more who have suffered injuries. We should be doing more to help them and I am willing and able to do anything I can to can to assist them."
Bathgate, who works as a diving consultant, keeps a close eye on the situation in the Middle East but is committed to keeping a public vow of silence on his views on the conflict in Iraq.
"I am not going to the US to get involved in the politics of the war and I won't go down that route. I'm just there to help people to restart rebuilding their lives."
The dedicated trainer speaks through personal experience. In 1986 when he was 23 the keen mountaineer was training for a Himalayan expedition when he fell 25ft from a climbing wall.
The impact of landing meant he fractured his spine and broke all the bones in his legs and feet. Despite six operations, Bathgate was diagnosed with lower body paralysis and told he would never walk again.
He suffered from depression and anger at his immobility until his life was changed by a holiday to Dubai where he was invited to learn scuba diving by a resort instructor.
"When I got into the water out there it was mindblowing. I suddenly regained my freedom and was not sitting in my wheelchair.
"The change in me in the space of 24 hours was amazing and I want to pass that on to other people.
"I will have endured the same kind of traumatic injuries that these guys have gone through.
"It's not like an able-bodied person teaching them because I know exactly what they have gone through and how they are feeling."
(Scotland on Sunday) | 
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