Tsai Pei-yu (蔡佩玉) was left paralyzed below the waist after a car accident 20 years ago. On Saturday she received her entry-level scuba diving certificate in Taipei.
Tsai lost two friends in the accident and while she survived, she sustained a spinal cord injury that put her in a wheelchair, she said.
In the first two years after the accident, Tsai said she often wondered why she had to live such a difficult life.
Photo: Yang Chin-chieh, Taipei Times
However, her mother was simply glad that she was alive and her mother’s optimism slowly lifted her spirits, Tsai said.
The incident made her feel that she should seize every opportunity to pursue her passions, Tsai said, adding that before the crash, she never exercised, but she took up swimming, as her doctor said it would help with her recovery.
Diving coaches usually decide which direction to take, but she wanted to go her own way, Tsai said.
After much consideration, she decided to sign up for a diving certification course, she said.
However, the process was not without obstacles, Tsai said.
Not only were the oxygen tanks and other equipment very heavy, but she also had to overcome physical obstacles that other people did not have to face, she said.
After a four-day intensive certification course in Kenting (墾丁), Tsai passed the test and received her certificate from the Taiwan Disability Scuba Diving Association, along several other people with disabilities.
Tsai said she is very grateful to her coach, Hung Chi-yao (洪啟堯), who volunteers at the association and paid for his own travel expenses every week to prepare her and other students in Taipei for their tests.
She added she would like to continue training for more advanced certification and dreams of diving at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Tsai said she enjoys being in water, because on land, she needs other people to help her, but when she is in the ocean, she is free.
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