(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Diveheart is building confidence, independence and self-esteem one dive at a time.
The adaptive scuba program helps children, adults and veterans with disabilities to realize their potential underwater.
"The thrill for me is when I get somebody out of a wheelchair standing up and underwater and they look down and they go, 'Oh my God, I'm standing up for the first time since my injury, or maybe the first time in my life if I was born with a disability,'" said founder and CEO Jim Elliott.
Disability or not, everyone is equal underwater.
Elliott says the weightlessness of the water creates the perfect gravity-free environment for those who might otherwise struggle on land.
"The fuel in my tank is watching somebody go through that metamorphosis, that paradigm shift. So, now it's not Johnny in a wheelchair anymore, it's Johnny the scuba diver."
Based in Downers Grove, the nonprofit takes participants from local pools to the bottom of the ocean with the help of dive buddies and adaptive equipment.
"Say they are missing the bottom half of one of their legs, we will then weight them differently so that they are even in the water and diving in a position that is comfortable to them," Executive Director Tinamarie Hernandez explains. "They might use different equipment, like maybe a full face mask, maybe webbed gloves, and that's what makes them adaptive versus a standard diver experience."
With every underwater adventure, Diveheart hopes to help participants and their loved ones "Imagine the Possibilities" in their lives.
"There's kind of a ripple effect that we've seen where we'll take somebody who's gone through this metamorphosis and now can do anything and people around them are inspired."
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