Community Corner

Scuba Diving Helps the Disabled Find Confidence

Jim Elliott of Downers Grove started Diveheart as a way to improve the physical and emotional health of disabled people through scuba diving. His 9-year-old daughter Erin served as a primary motivation for Jim. Credit: Mary Compton

Story by Patch contributor Mary Compton

Downers Grove resident Jim Elliott wanted to build the confidence of his then-9-year-old daughter, Erin. The young father learned about an unusual practice that could help his daughter: blind downhill skiing. Elliot described the experience as “transformational” for Erin.

“She loved the adventure of it, and the kids at school were amazed,” Jim Elliot said.  “Her self-confidence and independence soared and (she) started to excel at academics. If skiing could have this type of impact on her, I knew without question that the potential of scuba diving for individuals with disabilities was enormous.”

With that, Diveheart was born. Elliot pursued the idea of using weightlessness while submerged in water to help people with disabilities feel more comfortable in their own skin.

“Thanks to the wonder of the water column, the ocean and lakes of the world become the forgiving weightless environment of outer space, giving perfect buoyancy and balance to any individual who might otherwise struggle on land,” said Elliott, who worked for WGN at the time. “This provides both physical and psychological therapeutic value. I knew that this was something that I wanted to make available to all children, adults and veterans with disabilities and so I left my career in media and became a full-time volunteer running Diveheart.”

Q. What goal are you trying to achieve now?
A. Our dream is to have our own facility, which we will call the Diveheart Freedom Center.  This will be a dedicated site in which we can serve children, adults and veterans with disabilities through scuba therapy, and where we can address research, rehabilitation, education and vocational training. The Diveheart Freedom Center will allow us to train individuals from around the world to scuba dive with individuals with disabilities. These divers can in turn, return to their homes and train even more people. The potential impact on the lives of individuals with disabilities around the world is enormous. 

Q. How can you make this happen?
A. Experts increasingly are understanding that scuba diving for emotional, spiritual, physical and therapeutic purposes has tremendous value. Our goal for Diveheart Freedom Center is ambitious but realistic. We plan to achieve it by finding generous donors and/or form strategic alliances with individuals, corporations, philanthropists, medical centers, military organizations…others who share our vision and are dedicated to improving the world for individuals with disabilities. 

Q. What will you do when you succeed?
A. We will keep working to provide scuba diving opportunities to children, adults and veterans with disabilities, and in doing so I firmly believe that we will save the world. Awareness is everything. If we could build a facility in the western suburbs, it would be a Mecca for research and rehabilitation. We were able to certify that an 81-year-old blind veteran has been diving since the 1950s.  That had to be one of the best moments for me. I had tears in my eyes and thanked him for being part of this. 

For more information on Diveheart, visit diveheart.org.

In May and June, Patch has teamed up with Grape-Nuts cereal on this "What’s Your Mountain” campaign to find inspirational stories in our towns and celebrate folks who have made a positive impact in their communities.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here