After a car accident severed his spinal column in 1990, leaving the then-20 year old paralyzed from the waist down, moving about on a day-to-day basis proved a difficult undertaking. Several years later, an experience even more unimaginable transpired.
“I had a wound and it went to the bone. It healed up, but the bone was exposed to air too long,” explained Bailey, 40, of
Bailey, who stood 5-feet-9 before the surgery, had always loved working with his hands and dreamed of becoming a deckhand on an Alaskan fishing boat. That changed, however, as he adapted to his now 2-foot-11 stature and confined sense of mobility. “Here I was, 28 years old, wondering what’s what, you know. But they gave me a second chance at life,” he said of the surgeons at UW.
What he lost in physical form, Bailey gained in psychological strength. And thanks to a friend, Hayden resident Miles Moore, whom he met in 2003, Bailey has learned to see through his disability with
The two hit it off immediately, and
Gliding atop a placid
“What we are trying to do now is recruit more sailors because I think there are a lot of people who don’t even know they can do this stuff,”
A native of
Sailing became an obvious way to do that once he took a few friends out on the water.
“I met Scott and a few other guys and they really liked sailing, and it’s been the love of my life since I was 6. I’ve never looked back and I just love it, so it was just a natural progression that way,” he explained. “Now I just focus on sailing. Rec-therapy is called ‘active treatment,’ and you’re helping them reintegrate into life, and into an active lifestyle.”
Last winter, SAIL (Self Awareness In Leisure) gained its nonprofit status. Now,
He prefers “accessible,” since his classes are open to all.
“They are not disabled classes; they are accessible classes. Whether you have a disability or not, you can be a part of the class; even if you have a disability, the boats are accessible,” he said.
Added Bailey, who sat propped up against a side railing as he guided the craft across the low waves: “That’s just it – it’s the peace and quiet, and the wind in your hair. Holding the rudder, you can actually feel the water underneath you.”
“Over time I’ve had some people who’ve passed away, or become really frail and just can’t do it anymore,” he said about working with persons with disabilities. “Now we’re getting ready to really go gung-ho. We’re trying to still grab a few people by the end of the season … try to get them thinking that this is something they might want to do.”
The learn-to-sail course begins run April-October, and indoor radio controlled sailboat classes take place year round. With the model sailing indoor classes the first session, a two-hour Saturday morning class, Moore will show the basics by using a sailing simulator that spins with sail bands attached, making it easier to learn how to read the wind. In the second session, everyone will learn the ropes by taking control of RC sailboats.
“It’s really good because people can come right up to the edge of the pool and learn the whole process of sailing, all indoors. Then they just take what they learned there and transfer it into a full-size boat like this,” he said.
But that’s not all they’re planning. If they can raise the necessary funds, Moore and Bailey hope to compete in next year’s national championship for disabled and nondisabled teams.
“We’re trying to put an accessible team together of people with disabilities and able-body and hopefully go down to
Since learning to sail, Bailey has added a range of outdoor sports to his list of activities. He also downhill skis and has performed in several hand-cycling marathons.
“The first couple of years being in the chair, I did a lot of pushing … I never thought the struggle would end, and it never does. But it was so, so hard,” he said. “But you’ve got to get your body tuned … Now, it still tires me out sometimes but I feel like I can go forever.
“I always wondered what my niche in life is. Now, I think I’ve found it,” he said. “If you set your mind to it, you can do anything in this world, with or without a disability.”
By Jacob Livingston of the Spokesman Review
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