New to this board and wanted to share my scuba diving quest with all of you

[scuba diving Matt]

Another newspaper story written about my quest to dive. Wanted to share this
with all of my friends. Because of all of you that my dream is coming close to
reality.

Safe Diving!

-Matt-


Scuba trip would fulfill Johnston’s dream
Wednesday, December 01, 2004

By Tom Carothers

We all have dreams. Some may dream to be a movie star, some may dream to be a pro athlete.

Others may dream for a better job, while others dream of a better life.

Woodbury resident Matt Johnston dreams of going scuba diving. It seems a simple enough dream to most of us, one that may only require a plane ticket and some lessons. It may seem simple enough until you learn one fact:

Johnston has Duchenne’s

Muscular Dystrophy.

“Sometimes I feel like I’ve gotten a bad deal,” he said. “But I can’t think like that.”
Johnston also has scoliosis, which has given him an abnormally curved spine. He uses a specially designed, motorized wheelchair. He is almost completely paralyzed, unable to make any more but the slightest movement of his thumb and forefinger to control his chair.

While his body may be confined, his mind soars over, and into, the ocean.

“I’ve dreamed of scuba diving as long as I can remember, since I was about six,” he said.

It took a great personal tragedy to spur Johnston’s dream into motion. Michelle Zimmer, his nurse and friend, died last year in a car accident. In their time together, she had prodded him to pursue his dream.

When she was suddenly gone, something awoke within Johnston, who began reaching out with the help of his new nurse to make his dream a reality.

He picked a good time as technology is catching up to his dream. Johnston contacted NASA and the United States Navy. He made friends with Professor Mike Lombardi of University of Rhode Island, who is on the board of a non-profit agency called Project Innerspace, which seeks answers to human maladies beneath the waves.

“Mike has been great in helping me pursue my dream,” Johnston said, noting that the agency has assisted in getting his dream off the ground.

He has found a legion of fans, well-wishers and assistance through Diving Unlimited International, a company out of San Diego. DUI will be donating to him the dry suit for when he makes his dive.

He is in constant contact with their president, Susan Long, who has written an ode to Johnston that is displayed on his web site, .

“She has been so supportive. I’ve found many friends in the diving community,” Johnston said. “It is such a wonderful and supportive group of people. Many are trying to help me accomplish my dream.”

He keeps in constant contact with divers around the world through his own web site and as a greeter of an Internet forum (scuba board) dedicated to divers with disabilities.

“I’m trying to reach out to as many people as I can to make my dream a reality,” he said.

He has even received a letter of luck from Richard Branson, president of Virgin Corporation.

“It’s going to be very expensive, I knew that all along,” he said. “A lot of what I am trying to do is to get the funding to make this happen.”

It will take an estimated $200,000 or more to make Johnston’s dream a reality. He has many contributors waiting in the wings to help fund his quest and a new web site is being set up to handle donations he hopes to receive in the future.

“We’re also looking at getting commercial sponsorship,” he said. “I think I may be close there as well.”

A great deal of the cost for Johnston’s dream will go toward research and development and a special type of vent. Ironic that a man who is forced to spend nearly every moment on a device that breathes for him awaits a ventilator, however that is just the case for Johnston.

“I want to use the HT50 from Newport Medical Instruments, the challenge is making it work underwater and keeping it dry,” he said. “If there’s a way to fit it into a backpack or to have a buddy or two of mine hold it above water.”

For all the preparation and planning, Johnston’s dream does not carry him to great depths once he makes his hoped-for dive. The HT50 is tested to 2.1 atmospheres, which equates to aproximately 33 feet underwater. For Johnston, he doesn’t have to go that far.

“It’s just to dive, to actually go under the water, even for a few minutes,” he said. “I could move my arms and legs.”

While technology has caught up to his dream, time may be running out for Johnston. Most people with Duchenne’s do not live past their early 30’s. Johnston is 27.
“I’ve already had a few scary times,” Johnston said, noting the disease has progressed noticably in the past few years. “My doctors have said I have nine lives. But none of us knows how long we have.”

In the meantime, Johnston sets up in front of his portal to the world, communicating with his diving friends and associates and anyone else who can help him with his dream.

He has gained notice as well, as more and more e-mails, cards and donations show up along with a myriad of requests for information as to his progress come from everyone from curious divers to journalists wanting to chronicle his efforts. Including schools from around the country where young students have been sending hand drawn pictures and letters of encouragement.

“People are really taking notice,” he said. “Hopefully that brings me closer to being able to make my dive. I have met a lot of wonderful people through this, now I just hope someday soon I will be able to go scuba diving.”