Fishermen with disabilities catch some recreation
Published: September 29, 2006
The fishing trip was extraordinary and exhilarating, said Ray Leight:
“I was next to a man who is visually impaired. It was his first time fishing and he caught three fish. He became so excited you would have thought he won the lottery. I got something out of it just watching him; I wanted to cry because it was such a warm feeling.”
Leight, 35, had traveled from the Philadelphia suburb of Bala Cynwyd to be among 15 people, many in wheelchairs, boarding the Carolyn Ann III in Barnegat Light last week for a half-day of fishing off Long Beach Island.
The trip was organized by Richard West, Tuckerton, a disability activist who also runs annual races on the island for wheelchair athletes. The group included double-amputees, people with paraplegia, prosthetic limbs and visual impairments.
Once aboard the boat, all were simply fisherman enjoying the sport.
“We had a wonderful time and everybody caught something,” said Leight, a paraplegic since 1991 when his back was broken in an auto accident. “I caught nine sea bass and one fluke so I had a nice bag of fish to take home.”
Leight enjoys fishing for tuna several times a year, but said many boat captains are afraid to accommodate people in wheelchairs because of safety concerns. “I swim, and I would probably do better than most able-bodied people if the boat went down,” Leight said.
Economics also are a factor since wheelchairs take up more space on the boat, Leight said. “They could have two people for every person in a wheelchair.”
And Leight called the fishing trip “a great outlet for showing what people of all abilities can do. If not for Richard (West), we would still be hidden in a closet like we were years ago.”
“The neatest part of the whole day,” West said, “was when people coming off the boat after fishing in the morning saw our chairs and asked (incredulously), “Are you guys gonna fish?’ Then one of them told me he has an 11-year-old daughter with muscular dystrophy. It hadn’t dawned on him that she could go fishing with him. That’s the whole purpose of being out there, so people can see what we can do.”
Socialization, too, was an integral part of the event. After the trip, the group gathered in the 18th Street parking lot, sharing peaches, cake and conversation about the experience.
Many in the group were from the Philadelphia area and already acquainted through other wheelchair activities, such as basketball. And some recognized Leight from his accomplishments as the current American DanceWheels world champion.
Leight performs in a “comby,” a couple combining a disabled person with nondisabled person. Their repertoire ranges from the fox trot and waltz to Latin dances; they are scheduled to represent the United States in the international paralympic events on Oct. 13 and 14 in the Netherlands.
The size of the group on Long Beach Island’s first fishing trip for people with disabilities was somewhat diminished after the vestiges of Hurricane Florence created choppy seas offshore and forced postponement of the event for a week. Originally, 28 people had signed up for the Sept. 11 trip but nearly half were unable to attend on the rain date.
“People couldn’t take off work two Mondays in a row,” West said, “and Voorhees Pediatric Rehabilitation Hospital couldn’t get transportation two Mondays in a row (that) meant four teens in wheelchairs were knocked off the trip.
“Also, the trip should be scheduled in August or on a weekend because some people are in school,” he added, looking ahead to next year’s fishing trip. “It’ll be better next year.”
Although he set up the trip, West was unable to accompany the group this year because he has a progressive form of muscular dystrophy and uses an electric wheelchair and ventilator. The gangplanks and size of the opening on a boat usually aren’t wide enough to accommodate power chairs, he said, and the need for backup for the battery-powered equipment is another issue boat captains aren’t always prepared to address.
West said Carolyn Ann III’s captain, William Hammarstrom, has since assured him electrical back-up and accessible space for electric as well as manual wheelchairs is available on the 85-foot boat.
West also is planning a separate trip for next year — a pontoon boat excursion in the bay — he said, for people with a wide range of disabilities.
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