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Bluey
Bluey can sail! By Jackie
Kay
My
friend Bluey is 55 years old. He was born with cerebral
palsy and is classed as spastic quadriplegic, which
means that he cannot use his arms or legs. Bluey also
cannot talk at all. I worked, for four years, at the
institution where he has lived in Sydney for the past 38
years. We have become great friends. Just to put you in
the picture, Bluey can't do anything physical for
himself. He sits in his wheelchair, needs someone to
push him about, feed him, and take him to the toilet -
he can't ask for help. Bluey communicates by sounds and
facial expressions, sometimes people understand him -
often they do not.
Imagine then, in April,
1995, putting Bluey in a little sailing boat, just 7
foot long, on his own. Chris Mitchell, the designer and
manufacturer of the Access 2.3 sailing dinghy, strapped
an electric toggle under Bluey's chin, and described to
him the concept of sailing and how Bluey could steer the
boat by pushing the toggle from side to side with his
chin. We knew Bluey was intelligent, but we didn't know
to what level his cognitive skills reached. The boat was
put in the water and Bluey was sailing - Chris followed
closely in another dinghy, giving instructions and
ensuring that he was safe. No one with such severe
physical disabilities had ever sailed solo before. Those
of us on shore watched with tears in our eyes and joy in
our hearts -- Bluey was sailing!
Imagine again, one month
later, we go through the same process. This time Bluey's
parents are there to watch. Bluey's boat was launched
into the bay at Drummoyne. We call out to him to "sail
over here into deep water" -- Bluey laughs, shakes his
head and turns in the opposite direction. For the first
time in his life he can decide where he wants to go, and
get there on his own, he can make his own decisions on
which direction to go in, to stay out sailing a bit
longer or come back to shore. Bluey has freedom! His Mum
and Dad stood on the shore; their tears were flowing.
We decided to form a
sailing club for people with disabilities at Drummoyne.
We formed Sailability Dobroyd. Bluey is the Commodore
and attends every meeting. He now interacts in groups,
is very verbal (in his fashion) on issues he feels
strongly about and offers suggestions about the running
of events. He was on the committee to organize the 1997
State Titles for Access Sailing Dinghies at Drummoyne.
Being involved with the
Access dinghies has meant a lot more than just sailing
to Bluey - as monumental as that is to him. He has a
whole new life, new attitude, and new friends. Bluey is
given the opportunity to socialize, interact with both
other disabled people and able bods. Bluey has the
confidence in his ability to speak his mind, his
self-esteem has rocketed, and his motivation is on an
ever-increasing spiral upwards. Bluey is proud of his
achievements.
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