A truly magical moment

By Dan Barrett

For years, accounts of the development of SCUBA have had to make reference to two names: Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan. Cousteau, of course, was the adventurer whose desire to explore the ocean's depths spurred the development of the self contained underwater breathing apparatus. Gagnan was the engineer who designed the valves that would make the dream possible. Now, however, a third name has emerged (or submerged, as the case may be) to take its place alongside these two: Matt Johnston. In scantly more than two years, through his efforts, Matt perhaps has done more to gain all individuals the chance to experience the sensation of "flying" underwater than thousands of years of engineering.

Born with Duchenne 's muscular dystrophy, at 29 Matt is a quadriplegic who relies on a ventilator 24 hours a day. Slight movement in his hands allows him to control his wheelchair. Despite these setbacks, Matt has the dream to dive, one he's had since the age of six. As any diver knows, however, diving isn't easy for someone in his condition.

First of all, there's the problem of movement. How will Matt swim or have any control underwater? Then there's the difficulty of communication. How might he relay effectively his condition? Will his buddies know if he's alright? But, as Diveheart has shown with hundreds of disabled divers, these problems are not insurmountable. Well trained buddies can guide any diver through the water, and a mask with a communication's unit can easily add narration and human contact to the normally silent underwater world.

More significantly, what stood in the way of Matt's dream was how he could dive with a ventilator and trach tube. It was the one problem in need of a solution, the one problem many would have written off as "impossible to solve," the problem Matt made his personal goal.

From his home in Minnesota in 2004, Matt launched the "Matthew Johnston Diving a Dream" campaign, an all out effort to get for himself the necessary equipment he would need to get into the water. In a short time, he amassed an impressive list of supporters. Diving Unlimited International (DUI) designed a dry suit that would accommodate his ventilator and trach, and a communications mask was made available so he could communicate while underwater. By early 2006, Matt had logged nearly 300 minutes underwater, including a pool session lasting 60 minutes. And in March of 2006 Matt received a c-card 1 from Scuba Diving International's "Scubility" program. Such a document normally is taken to signify "diver" status. Ask most divers who know Matt, however, and they'll tell you he was a diver long before that.

As yet, Matt's ventilator and air supply still must remain above water. They did on June 18 as he went below the waters of Lake Wazee in Black River Falls , WI , officially becoming the first ventilator-dependent diver to make an open water dive. Many might consider it a routine dive—he went no more than 10 feet for about 15 minutes—but it represents one of those defining moments in diving history, "one small dive for Matt, one giant plunge for all divers."

Matt is on track to make an ocean dive in Key Largo , FL , by November of this year. And, if passed performance is any indication, he's going to do it. While the technical difficulties may be under control, he still is battling the disease that makes each day a challenge and baffles even experts to say how long one can survive with it. Matt apparently takes it stride. "I don't know how much longer I have to live, could be a day, could be a year, could be more." One thing is for sure, however much longer any of us are here, Matt's dream will survive in the technologies it has produced, technologies no one yet knows what benefits they will bring to mankind.

Five minutes with Matt would make anyone forget to ask why he would want to dive. His enthusiasm is infectious; his love for the water unquestionable. Anyone who can't understand his quest probably can't understand how mankind could have built the pyramids or walked on the Moon. In his dream, we find the ingredients of what has made the survival of the human race possible: the ability to dream and the drive (or perhaps the "dive") to make dreams a reality.