Guest Post by Eric Tress, Public Relations Officer at Cerebral Palsy FAQ.
Stephanie sat brooding after yet another tantrum. Her mum was on the couch, the TV on silent, looking sad and in despair.
“I’m sorry, mum,” said Stephanie,” I don’t know why I get so angry.”
“Well, Steph,” her mom replied. “I know you can’t always help it, but there must be something we can do. A tantrum every other day is more than I can take. Are you sure nothing is bothering you? You are not usually this…difficult…”
Stephanie sat, thinking. She, too, could not fathom why she was so angry, but if she could pinpoint a start to the drama, it must be when she saw the neighbour’s kids at the beach water-skiing. Why couldn’t she do that? It looked like so much fun.
Since then, Stephanie had been dreaming and thinking about water-skiing. She read a lot of materials on Cerebral Palsy and learned that disability was not always a hindrance to participating in sports. She discovered some fantastic people with cerebral palsy doing amazing things. For one, there was Linda Mastandrea who not only excelled in sports such as basketball while in school, but also managed to win Olympic medals for racing in a wheelchair, and then went on to become a top-notch lawyer!
After that research, Stephanie felt like she was missing out. It seems like she could be doing much more even with Cerebral Palsy and knew she could even water-ski if she was given the chance. However, when she started thinking of the logistics, she got confused and frustrated, and probably that was where the tantrums and anger were coming from. Stephanie shared all of this with her mum.
“Wow, Steph, That sounds really fun! I love this thinking outside the box and challenging yourself, but don’t you think water-skiing is a bit too…radical? I mean, what about the risks?” While Steph had her misgivings, when she heard her mum say that water-skiing was too risky, she made up her mind to do it at least once. At the very least, even if she failed at it, she would feel much better for trying.
“No, mum! It’s not too risky. I want to learn how to water-ski!”
“Water-skiing it is then…” said her mum while still looking sceptical. Stephanie grinned.
***
Stephanie was excited about her new challenge. She could see her mum and other members of the family were sceptical, but Steph was on a mission. Steph started by researching people with Cerebral Palsy doing various sports.
Amongst all her other research, when Steph read about Effie Corriveau and her water-skiing story, she was on cloud nine! Now she knew it was possible. Here was a woman just like her, with Cerebral Palsy, doing what she wanted. If Effie Corriveau could do it, so could she.
Through Effie’s story, Steph was also relieved to learn that there were programs and equipment to help people with disability water-ski. What a discovery; Steph was over the moon.
Steph shared the story of the Woman with Cerebral Palsy that could ski anyway with her family on social media & at the dinner table, and everyone seemed impressed. Steph could see the tide turning in her favour, and she hadn’t even gone out on the water yet!
***
Steph couldn’t wait to start water-skiing classes, and was up as early as possible on the day she would sign-up for classes. She could have spent the whole night thinking about it instead of sleeping, but she wanted to be strong and fresh to make a good impression of a capable student, so she made sure she had a good night’s rest.
Once they had had breakfast, and she got all the well-wishes from her extended family, Steph and her mum set off.
When they arrived at the water-ski centre, Steph’s excitement reached a new peak. She already felt that this was something she loved and wanted to learn. They found where the other amateurs were having their lessons, and when the ski instructor saw them, he came bounding over like an over-sized puppy.
“Hi, I’m Todd, the water-ski instructor. Would you like to sign up for a class?” he said, looking at Steph’s mother. He was met with a steely stare from both ladies.
Todd looked bewildered as Steph’s mother answered.
“Hi! My name is Elsie, and this is Stephanie, my daughter. She wants to sign up for water-skiing lessons.”
Todd was dumbstruck. Steph and her mom could practically see the cogs turning in his mind as he wondered how to go about it. Just then, an older man walked towards them, and Todd excused himself to go talk to him.
“That must be the boss, Steph! Let’s see what he says,” Stephanie’s mum said to her daughter, who was trying not to be disheartened. After a few minutes, the older man, with a kind expression on his face came right up to Stephanie and greeted her personally.
“Hello young lady, I’m Mr. Carver. I hear you want to water-ski…”
Steph interrupted with an enthusiastic “Yes!”
“Well then, let’s get you signed up,”
He greeted Steph’s mom and ushered them into an office.
***
When they returned home, everyone in the family was amazed to hear that Steph had actually signed up for water-ski lessons. They were also interested to hear about the many programs available for disabled people to learn waterskiing and other sports in the area.
Steph had also learned that people with Cerebral Palsy had been participating in water-skiing competitions in world tournaments since 1999, and that gave her additional confidence in her decision. She found out there were many qualified ski instructors like Mr. Carver that would train disabled people, and she was just glad that he was available to teach her.
The next weekend, Stephanie turned up for her skiing lessons with her adaptive water-skiing equipment, which admittedly hadn’t come cheap. It was like a weird game of Tetris just to get everything in or on the car. Unloading was somewhat easier, as opening the car doors seemed to do most of the work. A short while & several inexplicable rubber ducks later, Steph was ready.
It was hard to believe that Steph had lived next to the beach all her life and never thought of signing up at the beach water sports centre. She remembered all the time she sat at the boardwalk and watched people water-ski, ride jet skis, and kiteboard.
“Why didn’t I feel the pull to water-ski then?” Steph wondered. The only answer she could come up with was that everything has its time.
***
The water sports centre had an indoor pool where Steph first practiced to water-ski. At first, it was tough for her to learn how to balance on the water, and she couldn’t believe she would ever be good at it, feeling disheartened.
It didn’t help that Mr. Carver insisted she trains with able-bodied kids who all appeared to have some experience, but then she would get some extra coaching afterwards.
“Teamwork is good for you, Steph. It’s going to help you learn faster,” Mr Carver said. Who was she to doubt? Besides, her fellow learners were encouraging & even giving advice once they had overcome their initial shock.
While she came back home with lots of bruises, Stephanie’s was high, & this feeling returned after each training session. She did it every weekend, but Steph wished she could do it every day. However, she knew she must pace herself to avoid getting sick, thus losing out on all the fun.
***
After weeks of learning the basics in the indoor pool, it was time to go into the ocean. Steph would never forget the unbelievable feeling when they rolled her down into the ocean water in her beach accessible wheelchair.
The waves were a bit intimidating, but once she got used to them, she felt like spending forever in the water. With the help of Mr. Carver and Todd, she got used floating in the water and feeling the waves wash over her without fear.
After a week, Todd and Mr. Carver strapped Steph into her sit – wakeboard and hooked it onto a speed boat. They then took her for test rides at slow speeds with two other employees of the water sports centre supporting her on either side of her board.
She thought they were treating her like a fragile egg and didn’t like it. But Mr. Carver said it was standard procedure when teaching disabled people to water-ski.
“It’s just until you get used to the waves and learn to balance Steph. You have to understand that ocean water is different than the pool, okay?”
“OK then, Mr. Carver, ” Steph said. She was prepared to follow the rules just to be allowed to water-ski in the ocean. Already she could feel the other learners treat her with a little bit more respect for venturing into the waves, and she liked it!
***
It took a couple of weeks to get her balance on the ocean water, but Steph finally started water-skiing without support. With each passing day, the speed & difficulty were increased marginally, and it was terrific. To feel the wind on her face and her body glide effortlessly over the water while on her sit -wakeboard was a dream come true.
Learning how to ski with able-bodied kids was great. They really supported her, but Steph could see they didn’t really think she could do any of the fun tricks they could. She wanted to prove them wrong. So, every time she had one-on-one sessions with Mr. Carver, Steph concentrated on learning how to do one awesome trick. She wanted to master the 360 degree turn, and was working hard to achieve it.
The use of her adaptive equipment made skiing safe and easy to learn for Stephanie. Usually, she used a sit-ski, outriggers for stability on the water, and arm slings to support her arms, but for the trick, she was learning to do, Mr. Carver had her use the sit-wakeboard.
Apart from the thrill water-skiing gave her, Steph could feel her body growing stronger. She also started doing some extra physical exercise at home with her mom to get fitter.
With time, Steph felt she was more in control of her skis. She had learned the rules, top of which was to relax, maintain her balance, and of course, to enjoy herself.
***
After a class one day, Mr Carver took her aside after class and gave her a brochure. It showed that there was a small tournament in the area for water-skiers, and they were accepting amateur disabled water-skiers to sign up. This seemed quite a specific category to Steph, but maybe there were more people like her than she had imagined. Some of her fellow learners were going to participate, and Mr Carver thought she would be interested too. Of course, Stephanie said yes. What was there to lose? Other than the competition, of course. Most important of all, what better place was there to show off her new trick?
When she got home, Stephanie excitedly told her mom about the competition.
“Are you sure, Steph? If you can’t do it, it could be very demoralizing”. Her mom said, only half listening as she tried to balance several loads of laundry while avoiding the rogue disability aids that littered their home.
“I don’t mind mom, I just want to give it a shot,” said Steph.
“Okay, honey, let’s do it!” mom said.
Steph was over the moon again, but a little anxious too. Could she actually do it?
***
After Mr. Carver put her name in for the competition, and they met all the requirements to enter, it left Steph with only three weeks to prepare. They were a pretty emotional three weeks. First, she was afraid, then she was petrified, but then the excitement would kick in again.
The day of the competition came, and everyone at home was on tenterhooks. She could see some doubt in the family’s eyes, but she felt supported none-the-less. Even her pals at the water-ski centre came to cheer her on if they weren’t already competing.
Watching the other able-bodied skiers at the competition do their amazing tricks, Stephanie wondered if she could do it. But when she saw other people with disabilities showing off their tricks, she was confident she could at least meet the basic standard.
Then she heard her name over the loudspeaker, mispronounced as ever.
“Up next, Stephanie Kowalski!”
Everyone was wishing her well as she made her way to the start of the course, but she could barely hear them over the sound of her heart was pounding in her ears.
Then she was out on the water, feeling the drag of the wind in her hair and the water under her wakeboard, and like a drunk at Christmas mass, she suddenly remembered why she was there. She loved this, she knew a great trick, and she was here to show it to her family and friends.
Off Stephanie went on her wakeboard, moving out to the middle of the water, preparing and then turning all the way round, executing her 360 just like Mr. Carver taught her. She could only hear the rush of the wind in her ear and not the applause she expected the crowd were making, as she concentrated on landing the move, but she felt fantastic! When she glided to a stop, she was surprised to hear silence.
“What happened?” she wondered, ” Did I mess up?”
Then after a silent moment, the crowd erupted (not literally), & there was thunderous applause. When Steph looked at her mum, scouring the crowd until she saw her face, she saw that her mum appeared to be crying and jumping up and down. So were her other family members.
“Steph, that was amazing!” Her mother screamed.
Steph looked at her pals from the ski centre, and they were applauding too.
Over the noise of the crowd she could hear the announcer say;
“Fantastic trick there from beginner, yes beginner, Stephanie Kowalski (with butchered pronunciation again), ladies and gentlemen! What a performance! Congratulations Stephanie!”
Right there, Steph knew that she wanted to do this for the rest of her life. Who knew what other tricks she could do? Her adventures were just beginning!
