DDI Instructor Trainer Angel Navarro recently taught the Pro Trainer Course at Pro Dive Mexico, in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and world record holder Leo Morales was amongst the students.

Leo is a bit of a celebrity around Mexico,  indeed he is a familiar name to divers worldwide.  Leo’s right leg was amputated in 2008 after he developed an aggressive type of cancer and all other treatments failed.   But Leo did not let that stop him and he continued his dive education and became both a tec diver and cave diver.  Last year he became a PADI Instructor, and he holds two world records for divers with disabilities – one for the deepest scuba dive (410 feet) and the other for the longest single dive on rebreather (8 hrs 15 mins).

For some divers, they imagine that diving with a physical or mental disability is impossible.  Of course this is not the case, in fact many people with disabilities find that it is a great way to escape from the challenges they face on dry land, and scuba diving has been shown to be a considerable therapeutic and psychological benefit during the early phase of rehabilitation following injury and beyond.

"We were delighted to have Leo join us on this course." said Angel.  "Having him there certainly helped us to see that disability is in the mind, not the body - me and my students learned a lot from him."

Congratulations to our new DDI Instructors!

Watch the video here: https://vimeo.com/96050267

Playa del Carmen, Mexico April 2014,

Jo Armitage