Las Vegas Valley veterans with disabilities get free scuba training
Former Marine Ron Cantagallo usually gets around in a wheel chair.
But Thursday he glided through water that buoyed his body and his spirits.
It was the first time Cantagallo, 66, and another Southern Nevada veteran entered the Municipal Pool on East Bonanza Road in Las Vegas for a scuba diving lesson. The pair are part of a national group of veterans with disabilities who get training, gear and a trip to tropical locales from the Dive Pirates Foundation.
For Cantagallo, the first time with his mask and tank on was a check off on the old bucket list, which also includes skydiving and zip lining.
“It’s definitely a new experience,” Cantagallo said, “and really exciting.”
Cantagallo said he was stationed for five months at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay before an off-duty car crash left him partly paralyzed. A paratrooper scheduled to deploy in the Vietnam War, Cantagallo saw his military career come to a halt after two years.
Mario Alfonsi, an Air Force veteran and former North Las Vegas police officer, is a certified dive instructor with GR8 DIVN. His goal is to help veterans see they don’t have to stop because of injuries and disease.
“We’re trying to help motivate the veterans to let them know they can be something,” Alfonsi said.
North Las Vegas police officer José Garcia said he began training in September to be Cantagallo’s “dive buddy.”
“It gives me great satisfaction to be able to assist a veteran because they do so much for our country,” said Garcia, who has been with the police department for 16 years.
Cantagallo and Garcia will continue to train up until September for a week-long, Dive Pirates-sponsored dive trip to the Cayman Islands. They’ll join about 20 other veterans with disabilities and their dive buddies from Dive Pirates’ 29 chapters across the United States. The foundation also sponsors annual trips to Kona, Hawaii, Utila, Honduras, and Cozumel, Mexico.
Army veteran John Kennedy said he served in the Gulf War and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2004. On Thursday, he dove with his wife, Brigitte Lombardo. They’ll be travelling to Hawaii later this year for their Dive Pirates trip.
“People think disabled veterans can’t do things like this,” 59-year-old Kennedy said. “But now we’re saying, ‘Yes we can.’”
Contact Chris Kudialis at ckudialis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Find him on Twitter: @kudialisrj.
