LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — When you think of scuba, you think of strapping on an oxygen tank and diving underwater to explore coral reefs and exotic ocean life.
But scuba is helping people right here in Central Florida relearn how to walk.
The therapy is being pioneered by a family in Lake County. It all started with a dad wanting to help his son to walk again.
“One week he was at football camp the next week, we found that he had a debilitating tumor, a life-threatening tumor, right at the center of his brain,” David Lawrence said.
David Lawrence’s son, David Junior, was diagnosed with an astrocytoma tumor directly on his brain stem at just age 11. He survived the risky surgery but was left paralyzed from the neck down.
David was told his son would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
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“He said ‘Dad, I don’t want to be in a wheelchair the rest of my life, I want to, I want to walk again, and be whole’ and it went from there,” Lawrence said.
Most insurances don’t cover hyperbaric oxygen therapy-- or HBOT-- which his son needed.
So, David Sr. turned to an old hobby—scuba diving.
“There was nothing out there. Nobody wanted to even touch, you know, somebody with a brain tumor surgery, and take them scuba diving,” Lawrence said.
David started with getting his son in the water in a standing position and then walking.
The idea is combining aquatic therapy with the concept of HBOT.
It allows more oxygen than normal to the body and promotes healing in damaged and oxygen-starved tissues.
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“It took about two and a half months. And there was just a really profound change,” Lawrence said.
Within about a year, David Jr. was walking despite being paralyzed on the left side of his body.
“And that’s when I thought, wow, this is, this is really neat. This works,” Lawrence said.
The family wanted to share this therapy to help others, opening the Scuba Gym at the National Training Center in Clermont.
David and David Junior are both diving instructors.
Over the past 15 years, they’ve helped dozens-- particularly those with brain injuries from strokes or accidents.
“I’ll get them out here and get them under water, and I’ll start looking for which nerves actually still work.
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Because paralysis is not always absolute. And finding a little nerve that works and when I find that well, where nerve that works, I just sit there and just keep poking until it works,” Lawrence said.
People at the gym are now walking examples of scuba therapy’s results.
Fred Rahming was in a motorcycle accident in November 2018, leaving him wheelchair bound for years-- that was until this year. He was walking within a month after starting the therapy.
“I was like, whoa, all right. We’re on to something here,” Rahming said.
Lawana Yose was born with cerebral palsy. She now can walk with the assistance of a cane or walker, but she’s determined to ditch those soon too.
“It just allows me to be stronger, better, faster,” Yose said about the Scuba Gym.
The therapy has also helped those diagnosed with down syndrome and autism.
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“When they get to go into water, it’s complete silence. And after about 10 or 15 minutes, you know, people with autism, down syndrome that normally don’t interact with people will start interacting with us underwater and in the things that we do,” Lawrence said.
Orlando Health physical therapist Chris Seymour says the family is pioneering a new therapy.
“He’s bridging in another tool in the toolbox to bridge from disability to ability and, and that’s really the idea of physical therapy,” Seymour said.
David Jr. is about to graduate from the University of Central Florida with degrees in chemistry and computational mathematics.
CLICK HERE, to learn more about the Scuba Gym.
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