RIDING THE WAVE
Patrick Redmond, 9, has a rare chromosomal abnormality that affects learning, but he got a huge confidence boost Tuesday at the SkiAbility Ottawa camp on the Rideau River.
It wasn’t until his mother pulled their car into a lot beside the Rideau River on Tuesday morning that nine-year-old Patrick Redmond learned he would be waterskiing for the first time in his life.
Patrick has an extremely rare chromosomal abnormality — he’s missing chromosome 12 and part of 13 — and the syndrome makes learning more difficult.
“Patrick tends to be a little nervous at things, so I didn’t tell him until we got here,” explained his mother, Ottawa’s Natashia Redmond. “He was a little apprehensive.”
A patient at CHEO, Patrick had been invited by the hospital’s recreational therapist, Emily Glossop, to give water-skiing a try with SkiAbility Ottawa, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities learn the sport. The community-based program, founded in 2003 by Ross Holden and his son, Chris, now serves about 40 people a year in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec from its base in Manotick.
The Holdens had worked for years with disabled alpine skiers before deciding to teach waterskiing. “It started with two sit skiers and the program slowly grew as the word got out,” said Ross Holden, 75, a championship barefoot skier who continues to set Canadian records.
Water-skiing is ideal for someone with a disability, Holden said, because “it’s a finesse sport, not a power sport.” Wheelchair basketball and sledge hockey require motor strength, but with water-skiing, the power is supplied by the boat.
“With water-skiing, you just steer,” he said. “So we have full quadriplegics who we’ve taught to ski: All they need is a little neck motion to control the ski a bit.
“When you have someone with that level of function and they can get out here and ski, it’s just an amazing experience because they feel so free.”
DisAbility Ottawa volunteers assess the physical skills of each participant and decide the best approach. Participants can use specially designed boards to sit, kneel or lie down, or stand using a rope tow or ski boom. Sometimes instructors ski alongside participants to ensure they track straight.
“We take advantage of all their abilities,” Holden said.
Outriders on a jet ski are ready to assist anyone who goes into the water.
The first step for Patrick Redmond was getting him used to the Rideau River. He was reluctant at first to step off the dock — “That’s cold, that’s cold, that’s cold!” — but he was coaxed onto a wakeboard by volunteer Jill Nicholson. Soon, he was standing on the board and riding the waves.
Patrick’s board was then attached to a line and towed into the river behind a power boat. With two outriders nearby, Patrick slowly gained confidence on the board. He tried it with no hands — “Superman!” — and learned to navigate left and right by leaning in each direction. Like most novice skiers, he took one roll into the water.
Although he wasn’t happy at the time, Patrick later pronounced that his favourite part of the adventure.
“I liked the underwater part,” he said.
His sister, Laura, 6, who has the same chromosomal abnormality, followed her brother into the water and learned to ski while crouched on her knees.
Their mother said she’d love to get her children more involved in the program. “It gives them a sense of adventure and it gets them a little out of their comfort zone,” Natashia Redmond said. “I would hope that experiences like this would make them a little more comfortable to try different things. They tend to want to do what they’re comfortable with. Trying things like this, I’m hoping, will open their eyes and allow them to enjoy new things in life.”
CHEO’s Glossop said that’s exactly what the hospital’s recreational therapy program is designed to do. The program exposes children and youths to sports such as sledge hockey, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, sitting volleyball and water-skiing.
“The most important thing,” she said, “is offering opportunities to try new things and to develop skills in the community, to get past the barriers and the fears.”