DAY 1

FRIDAY, MAY 1

Steve Hands

We were a little bit tired from the long flight from London the day before, so yesterday we chilled out in the morning after we got up at 06.30 to help Dom get ready. Putting on his wetsuit was a half hour struggle and I was sweating buckets by the time we finished, but it was great to see him all ready to go.

It all went well for Dom and in the afternoon while he had some downtime, Matt and I decided to rent a couple of kayaks from the beach hirer and do some hard exercise for an hour.

We rowed straight out to sea for 35 minutes, against the waves and the current, and then we turned round and cam back in again, this time with the conditions in our favour. We ended up looking like lobsters as the sun was fierce, but it was good to get a workout.

Last night we went to Rib Daddy’s restaurant to meet all the rest of the guys from the States who are here with the Eagle Divers. The owner, Bob, is a great guy and big supporter of this project. The food was terrific and we had a good chat with a lot of the guys and got to know them a bit better. They are really nice people, and like us they have the same passion for the Forces.

It was upsetting to see them in one way, because they reminded me of myself when I was in my mid-twenties and I got discharged. Now the same thing is happening to them and you can see the effect it has on them. There was one guy, Steve, whose eyes showed how upset he is at leaving the Marine Corps. But at the same time it was great to see the camaraderie between them all, and indeed between us and them.

It was terrific to watch all the volunteers who came along to help Dom in the pool, and it was great for Fraser to be able to get all the help he needed. The way the four instructors worked with Dom was remarkable, with Fraser coordinating everything. He is obviously held in great respect by everyone here for what he has done, and his Deptherapy techniques are amazing.

All you had to do was to look at Dominic and the big smile on his face after that first session and you know that Deptherapy works.