Waterskiing

 

Eva: I'm going water-skiing in July, you should come, you'd enjoy it.
I stared at her and then with arms outstretched, pointed at my wheelchair, illustrating the predicament I was in

"I'm in a f****ng wheelchair!"

I thought I should mention this just in case Eva was expecting me to glide effortlessly across the water, switching the handlebar between either hand. Holding it with my teeth, maybe even wrapping it around my ankle while balancing on one leg. I may have got a bit carried away there. 

Eva was aware of my limitations, I wasn't telling her something she didn't know. In fact (I don't want to give her too much credit here), but I'm fairly she spotted this the first time I met her. 

I was saying it for comic effect. Water-skiing was something I would love to do, but there were obvious obstacles that I presumed would require a large fee to somebody as they would need specialist equipment.

Eva: I did it last year, it was awesome and there's people there with differing disabilities that do it as well. Some are in wheelchairs, some aren't.

I thought back to when I had physiotherapy in a hydrotherapy pool in 2008, a few months after surgery. My attitude was a little different then

After an hour’s session and basically flailing about like a beetle trying to get back on its feet, I got back into the chair lift and transferred back into my wheelchair. This was an unmitigated failure as far as I was concerned. Everything had been a failure. Using walking aids - failure ❌  playing Wii Tennis - failure ❌ swimming - failure ❌

Source: Brain Tumours, John Bonham and Fat Pigeons

My sudden lack of ability was quite new to me at that point, I'm quite used to it by now, although, in my mind I'm still convinced I'm far more able than I am. So I said yes and then didn't think about it again. It seems to be how I handle things nowadays. Back in the day, I would overthink everything, imagining all kinds of ridiculous situations that were never going to happen, worrying myself sick and getting annoyed with myself that I've got myself into this situation by saying yes. I should have said no!

Eva: It's water-skiing next week. Are you looking forward to it?
Tom: Oh, that's next week? I'm glad you reminded me

Eva knows about all of the advancements and all of the places you can go to do certain activities like abseiling, water skiing, cave walks...the list goes on, but I'm always amazed at what is available to me. This is a world that has passed me by

Source: https://www.wheelchairworries.com/2026/04/naidex-26th-march-2026.html

Stupid Idea?

Abseiling is a stupid idea...cave walking is a stupid idea...water skiing is not quite a stupid idea it seems, I wanted to give it a go just to prove what a stupid idea it was.

The activity was put on by Access Adventures who are a registered charity and are based at at Edge Adaptive Sports Centre near Staines but also have a Yorkshire & Central team running additional adaptive waterski & wakeboard sessions.​ They were spending the week here at Church Wilne Watersports Club in Derby. They had set up a camp site set up in the top field. they seem to tour around the middle of the country, doing what they love, helping others along the way enjoy it, who otherwise wouldn't get the chance, the weathers good and they're with their mates.

It's not a bad life

All of them were super friendly and helpful. The site is surrounded by a metal fence and the only way in is through a gate that is opened by a member of the team. The only people roaming around the site are those on the activity as well. They supply the wetsuit, which is almost impossible to get on when your dry, it IS impossible to get back on when you are wet.

I immediately regretted saying that because quite clearly it wasn't impossible as there are several pictures of me throughout the day wearing the swimsuit even though I had gone to the loo.

They even supply you with lunch! 

Actually, I'm fairly sure they don't, but when you're an idiot and the only one who doesn't bring a packed lunch, they take pity on you and make a fantastic ham salad baguette.

So, how does it work?

Instead of standing, I used a specially adapted sit-down ski. It was designed so I could enjoy the sport safely. I couldn’t believe something like this even existed. It made me realise that disability doesn’t have to mean missing out. Sometimes it just means finding a different way. There would be a person either side of me offering me any help I would need to keep me upright.

It was quite a relief to hear this, I hadn't thought about doing this until this very moment, and I thought I was going to have to point out to Ollie the same as I did Eva...

"I'm in a f****ng wheelchair!"

Ollie and my Dad had just lifted me by holding me under each armpit and helping me sit in the cradle on the water-ski, so he was well aware of this as well. To be fair, I don't think it ever goes un-noticed.

He instructed me to hold onto the tow rope and try and keep it pressed to my feet at all times to keep the ride as smooth as possible, and the instructors either side of me would give me all the support I need to ensure I stay upright. This came as a huge relief, as I must admit I got my first pang of nervousness as I was being helped into the cradle and I was thinking I've massively misjudged this.

I was going to end up face first in the water flailing around like an upside down beetle.

And, Now, Water-ski!

It was my turn. Dad pushed me in the wheelchair up to the jetty where three instructors would meet me.

I had no idea what to expect, but I wasn't nervous, I wasn't worrying, I put my trust in these strangers...Although they didn't ever feel like strangers from the moment I met them. Two of them got into the water, the third person stayed on the jetty to slide me backwards and pass me to the people in the water. One of them kept me afloat while the other got onto a similarly adapted water ski and then they switched roles. The boat that would be towing us tossed the tow rope to us and then drove off in front of us. With the two instructors either side of me, I was instructed to look up at the clouds and count them. Now I hadn't got my glasses on so I could barely see the clouds and I was seeing two of everything, so it took me...about half a second to count them. It was overcast, there seemed to be one big cloud. I unleashed a killer joke about there being only one cloud. But, nothing. I think I saw tumbleweed rolling across the surface of the water.

The water was very warm and it felt very easy. I don't want to blow my own trumpet but I was probably the best person they'd seen...but then I watched the footage my Dad recorded. I am constantly veering to my right. There are a couple of times I manage to go towards my left, only for my attraction to Ollie to overpower me and I headed back to my right...the only way of stopping was to whack into Ollie.

Access Adventures put on wakeboard, paddle, mountain biking, land kiting and skiing. Activities like water-skiing and land kiting seem to be hosted by external companies who specialise in those activities.

If you ever get the chance to try adapted waterskiing, do it.

Just be prepared to discover muscles you didn’t know existed the next morning.

It's well worth looking at them on Instagram @access_adventures_yandc and check out their website at www.accessadventures.org

@fatpigeonsbook

@fatpigeonsbook