Ronnie loves to swim in our neighborhood pool. It opened this weekend, and already he has been there three times. But, I have an issue that may keep him from the pool unless I can find a solution.
Because of Ronnie's spina bifida, he is paralyzed from the waist down. He has no feeling in his legs and feet. When he first joined our family and went to the pool, I noticed that afterwards his feet and legs were pretty scratched up. But he had no idea because he couldn't feel anything.
We tried swim shoes, and after one or two trips to the pool, they were in shreds. Then we moved on to Converse sneakers. Again, after just a couple of trips into the pool, the canvas was shredded and the toes on his feet were scraped up. This year, I have tried scuba diving boots.
The boots were a recommendation of his physical therapist. In addition to being a little thicker than regular swim shoes, they would offer a little flotation and hopefully that would keep his feet from dragging on the sides and bottom of the pool.
But, after three visits this weekend, the scuba boots are starting to shred. And at $60 a pair, I just can't afford a new pair every week for him. Surely though, he's not the first person to face this issue.
So if anyone has any ideas, Ronnie and I would love to hear them. It will break his heart if he can't go to the pool this summer.
9 comments:
My daughter used to do water therapy due to some leg issues since she has spina bifida occulta. There were people there in wheelchairs who would swim. They used the jumbo woggles (pool noodles) tied in knots to float on their chest or tied around their waist to keep their legs off the bottom of the pool. Hope you find something that works! :)
cheap rain boots from walmart. they're what? 10 bucks, not too thin. give it a try!
It doesn't seem as if any shoe is going to last.I think a good solution, if you don't want to restrict him is to either go to the thrift store and buy whatever cheap sneakers fit, or put up a flyer at the school and ask for donations of old sneakers.
I've been mulling this over all day! I don't think I've come up with a solution though. I will keep thinking.
A serious suggestion from hubby the ex-group home employee(from the absurd part of his brain that oddly works): lightweight chain mail. Contact your local Renaissance Faire to find out who local(ish) vendors are. I'd be willing to bet they'd donate/reduce price to make him some custom "socks". The new aluminum rings are incredibly lightweight, and would put up with a ton of abuse.
thats a good idea heather!!! I would look for the shark male if you can't find the chainmale!!
Kitty and Heather, I like that idea but I'm not finding anything online. I've searched for chain mail socks, but am only finding shirts and pants and such. If y'all run across any links, please let me know.
You're not likely to find something online regarding the socks, I was thinking more of doing it as a custom order. Most folk who work Ren. faires are good people who would be happy to help out. They'll also be practiced in doing custom work like this. My last name is Eberhardt , and my email is firstname.lastname@gmail.com . Email me and I can get you more specific info, and I may have a lead on someone to do the actual work :)
Ace bandage? The sticky bandages that look like ace but stick to themselves (originally used on horses)?
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