October 23rd Meeting Recap
Our October 23rd meeting was a presentation on Diveheart, an organization that helps children, veterans and others with disabilities through adaptive scuba opportunities and scuba therapy. In addition to our presenters from Diveheart, Jim Elliott and Tinamarie Hernandez, Amber Rangel from Rockford also spoke. Amber has quadriplegia from a spinal cord injury she suffered while water skiing. Diveheart gave her the opportunity to focus on her future. She had dropped out of high school to become a semiprofessional barefoot waterskiing athlete, tearing along the water in slalom and tricks competition. Thanks to Diveheart, she completed her GED, enrolled in college and in 2024, at the age of 30, graduated with honors from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Now she is in the process of applying to Law School and is a part-time substitute teacher in the Rockford School System.
It was a truly inspiring presentation and we thank Jim, Tinamarie, and Amber for taking the time to educate us on overcoming challenges in our lives.
Tinamarie Hernandez, Jim Elliott, Amber Rangel, and President Paul.