Wheelchairs to weightlessness, joys of indoor skydiving
Hunter Edgecombe has stiff and crooked joints, clubbed hands and feet but he felt ‘‘normal’’ for the first time in his 15 years.
Hunter was one of eight Parafed Otago members to try indoor skydiving and was gobsmacked to find his troublesome left hand straighten out and his soreness gone.
‘‘That was something,’’ he said, struggling to find the right words.
‘‘I felt normal . . . even though I don’t know what normal is.’’
Dylan Lloyd has cerebral palsy and has spent most of his 16 years reliant on a wheelchair for transport. He was also in the group hosted by Queenstown ifly.
‘‘It was awesome . . . it felt weird, very bizarre, especially when they turned up the fan and you went real high. It was the weirdest thing I’ve felt. So cool.’’
Mia O’keefe has spina bifida and is also in a wheelchair.
‘‘That was incredible, I want to go again,’’ she said afterwards.
‘‘I ski a lot but that’s got a whole lot more freedom to it. Being weightless. A pretty amazing feeling.’’
Their joy was shared. Hannah Scott suffered brain and spinal injuries in a car accident about 10 years ago.
After years of rehabilitation she went skydiving in Wanaka last year.
Her mother, Marnie Scott, couldn’t watch that but she was thrilled to see Hannah at ifly.
‘‘When she first came home she was totally dependent on us for everything. To see her doing this – walking in, loving flying, decking herself out, it’s just wonderful.’’
Connor Fa’asega, 16, who has cerebral palsy, loves speed and could not wait to give indoor skydiving a go.
After ifly he was heading to the Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell as he had saved his birthday money for a fast lap.
He said he wasn’t afraid of anything, ‘‘except eating broccoli and vegetables’’.
Parafed Otago sports development officer Kelly Nooy said the Dunedin-based crew enjoyed sports, many of them taking part in wheelchair rugby, basketball and boccia, a version of bowls.
However, adventure tourism was not always open to them, especially for those in a wheelchair.
‘‘To be a part of something anyone can do – it’s really good and really positive.
‘‘It would be really great to have more operators overcoming those barriers. It gets rid of the stigma.
‘‘It takes extra effort but has its own rewards.’’
ifly Queenstown general manager Matt Wong said it was a great opportunity for the business to be able to give back to the community.
He would love to see more Queenstown adventure tourism operators opening the door for people with disabilities to participate.
‘‘It does take longer but it’s great but . . . when you get someone in there [with a disability] . . . you can feel the intensity and nervousness, and it’s not just them but their caregivers, too.’’
It could be ‘‘a bit of a tear jerker’’ for staff also, Wong said.