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Happy National Nurses Day! 🛌👩⚕💉💊🎉
A Prosthetic Paddle
- Thread starter Odyssey
- Start date
An inspiring story, indeed.
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2013
- Messages
- 1,345
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- 341
Thanks for posting that. I just forwarded it on to some of the therapeutic recreation staff I work with in an outdoor program that leads 6 day canoe trips in the Adirondacks.
That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.
snapper
That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.
snapper
Had the pleasure of meeting the paddle maker, Rick Schuett, at the 2018 Wooden Canoe Assembly in Peterborough. He was hard at work carving wonderful paddles during the whole 4 day event and brought his innovative paddle in on one of the days (the day I didn't bring my camera). I believe he mentioned the mechanism was adapted from some sort of gas line coupler. Thought it was quite ingenious. Nice to see that his volunteer work is being recognized and the paddle will be put to good use by its talented owner.
I should pass this story along to a friend of mine, (coincidentally by the name of "Rick"). Rick for many years was the waterfront director of one of the Adirondack Boy Scout camps on a busy lake. Rick is an amazing person. Highly athletic and an all around good guy, he lost his arm above the elbow several years ago in an accident. As waterfront director, swim, and boating instructor, he could swim better than most of his young (or older) staff helpers. He often did the mile swim with ease.
One of Rick's tests for life guard certification was to throw a sledge hammer which was a steel pipe welded to a sledge hammer head into 12 feet of water at the raft and retrieve it to the shore. Rick could do it faster than any other strong staff swimmer. His favorite activity was sailing and he owned a Hobie which he loved and handled solo easily. He could paddle a canoe with a standard wood paddle ( by wedging it in his armpit) well enough to teach the program to everyone. One time as he was working on a project I without thinking embarrassingly asked him if he "could use a hand". He often joked about that time as he said he already had "one".
One of Rick's tests for life guard certification was to throw a sledge hammer which was a steel pipe welded to a sledge hammer head into 12 feet of water at the raft and retrieve it to the shore. Rick could do it faster than any other strong staff swimmer. His favorite activity was sailing and he owned a Hobie which he loved and handled solo easily. He could paddle a canoe with a standard wood paddle ( by wedging it in his armpit) well enough to teach the program to everyone. One time as he was working on a project I without thinking embarrassingly asked him if he "could use a hand". He often joked about that time as he said he already had "one".
