The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

OI IAEA WT TAT Be Larry teaches the handicapped to skin dive A rewarding experience that has landed five special kids and A little over a year ago 'Larry Emmerson, of Port Perry, began teaching a skin diving course to some kids at Bloorview Children's Hospi- tal in Toronto. Teaching children to skin dive was nothing new for Larry, but in this case the five students who took the course were handicapped. © Two were ® paraplegics, one had spina bifida, another cerebral palsy and yet another had arthrogryposis. After five months of pain- staking training, Larry's patience and determination paid off, and the students ® were all awarded their NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors) certificate for skin diving. Learning the techniques of skin diving entails a rigorous '®accomplishment of these youngsters was to be admir- ed. Had it not been for their persistence, and will to meet the challenge, along with their instructor's determin- ation not to let them down the course could have been a disaster. Then the kids big night came one evening in April program for anyone, so the. - when the class performed in front of a captive audience at the NAUI Convention in Toronto. During the time that this course has been taking place interest in the project has been growing rapidly. Both the blind and the deaf had been taken underwater before, but teaching the physically handicapped to dive was a first. Being a pioneer in the field of teaching the handicapped to skin dive, it was natural that Larry sooner or later get some recognition for his efforts. This came about two months ago, when Horus Productions Inc. of Toronto contacted him with the idea of making a film. Since then the arrange- ments have been completed "and filming-of a-document-- ary entitled "Free Dive' has begun, with completion slated for this fall. - Airing of the film will take place during the first quarter of 1981, which has been desig- nated as "The "International Year for Disabled Persons." Free Dive is a half hour film being shot on location in Toronto and in the Caymen Islands and produced by a local instructor in flims... Horus Productions Inc. and Mako Films in association with Wendy Campbell-Such. Director of the film, John Stoneman, an acclaimed underwater cinematograph- er will be shooting the under- water sequences in the Cay- men Islands. The film, which has an $82,500 budget, not only features Port Perry's Larry Emmerson, but also a new member of the community, Dr. Guntis Silins. Dr. Silins will accompany the cast to the Caymen Islands next month to take care of any medical needs. He was chosen because he is an experienced scuba diver and has also practiced hyperber- ic medicine in Tobermori, Ontario and Australia. But the real stars of the show-are Anna, Chris; Billy, Danny and Daryle.. They're the ones who defied the odds and came out the winners, It seems like a long time ago that Larry was challeng- ed with statements like "I' bet you can't teach me to dive" and "Have you ever taught crips before." A challenge that he faced, and has successfully ful- filled. Chris listens as Larry Emmerson [back to camera) teaches a lesson during the filming of "Free Dive' about teaching the physically handicapped to skin dive. Cfvi hy teupu o PORT PERRY STAR -- Wed., August 20, 1980 -- 9 --- - SS a wns i Se DN Ee aN - a rt - CAT er, Re Del Sa ~~ A, SAA When Horus Productions Inc. finish filming segments of the film * Free Dive' in the pool, the group will fly to the Cayman Islands in mid-September to finish the project. Here Larry Emmerson goes over the use of a BC [boyance Sompengater) with Danny, Daryle and Chris. ! i Cameraman Kenneth Post and his assistant shoot a segment of film, showing Larry Emmerson towing one of the handicapped students.