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.
No comments:
Post a Comment