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Montrose kids splash into Shark program

MOST people want to stay away from sharks as much as possible, but a group of kids in Corinda want to become shark bait.

Each Saturday for the next six weeks, a group of Montrose Access clients are practising scuba diving in a swimming pool before they dive in a reef tank right next to the sharks at Sea World.

It’s a mean feat for anyone, let alone these kids, aged eight to 14, who also have the life limiting condition of muscular dystrophy which weakens the muscles. Co-ordinator of the Shark Bait Kids program, Sue Nicklin, said scuba diving was a way for the kids to feel free, without being in the usual confines of their wheelchair.

“There’s a lot of benefit emotionally,” she said. “Essentially their disease is a downhill disease, there’s no way they can stop going downhill. But this gives them mobility once they’ve lost it on the surface.”

Local businessman, David Frangos, Managing Director of David Long & Associates, Builders, believes in the program so much that his company has become the major sponsor for the Shark Bait Kids. The Mr Frangos said very few people know about Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy or the program so he thought it was time for the company to “step in and lend a hand”.

They have supported the program since 2007, from conception. “If this program will help the kids cope with their disability, then it is one hell of a program to support,” he said. “In December last year, I went to Sea World, where I actually saw the kids swim under water with the sharks and groper, wearing their wetsuits and breathing regulators.

“I witnessed those kids go from being timid in the water to being overwhelmed with joy for their experience.”

Ms Nicklin said because they never went deeper than three metres, the diving was not physically hard for the kids. They are also required to write blogs about their experiences over the nine week program.

? You can become a fan of Shark Bait Kids on Facebook and see the photos from their training

GAME ON: Kevin Pretorius (grade seven) and Sam Uchytil (grade four) get active during their session in the pool.