Seventeen-year-old Sam de Beer was blissfully unaware of the workout he was getting during his first swimming session at Quicksilver Swimming Academy (QSSA) in Durbanville. For a teenager who has undergone more than 20 surgeries and around 60 hospital admissions in his life, a splash in the pool was a rare chance to simply have fun.

Sam has a rare congenital disorder called Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome. He was also born prematurely and, following a complicated birth, developed cerebral palsy, separate from his Rubinstein-Taybi diagnosis. Together, the conditions have resulted in severe intellectual and physical disabilities, as well as profound medical complexities.

In his 17 years, Sam has had operations on his hands, feet, legs, spinal cord and airways, many of his hospital admissions due to an immune deficiency. These experiences, combined with years of weekly intervention therapies, have led to what his mother, Nicky de Beer, describes as a type of “treatment fatigue”.

From hippotherapy to the pool

Sam has been doing hippotherapy with Sonja Higham, a qualified physiotherapist who owns Speak2Me Therapy.

Hippotherapy uses the natural gait and movement of a horse to provide motor and sensory input as part of physical, occupational and speech therapy. The impact the Speak2Me team has had on Sam’s quality of life has been extraordinary, and it is one of the few therapies that could be packaged as fun, De Beer said.

During one of these sessions, De Beer mentioned to Higham and Speak2Me colleague Bekkie Hugo that she was concerned about Sam’s regressing mobility. She had tried, unsuccessfully, to find a nearby hydrotherapy practice that could accommodate Sam’s particular disabilities and needs.

Hugo, a longtime QSSA swimming coach, phoned a colleague, and just five days later Sam was in the pool.

Higham offered her time to help with the tricky process of transitioning Sam into the water and drew on her aquatic physiotherapy training to suggest some activities.

“When attempts to add value to your differently-abled child’s life are more often than not met with one obstacle or another, suddenly having a whole team on board, simply making it happen, can be incredibly refreshing,” De Beer said.

With Sam in Hugo’s hands, there was little for De Beer to do but sit back and take photos.

“His expressions say far more about his first experience at QSSA than I ever could,” she said.

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One of the first in the area

QSSA has been part of the Durbanville community for more than 20 years, making it one of the first swimming schools established in the area. A strong sense of family and an encouraging, supportive approach have sometimes seen one generation welcome the next, with past learners returning years later with children of their own.

Owner Lily Anderson’s focus is on making swimming accessible for everyone. “Every swimmer arrives with unique abilities, challenges and goals, we believe in meeting them where they are. Progress does not look the same for every child and we don’t believe it should.”

For some swimmers, the goal is becoming water-safe or learning a new stroke.

Others are there to gain confidence, guided to focus on what they can do rather than what they can’t, from putting their face in the water for the first time to swimming a full length of the pool.

Hugo has been part of the QSSA family for eight years and carries her passion for working with differently-abled children beyond the pool into the hippotherapy practice where she also works.

“The light in the kids’ eyes when they arrive at the pool and their heartwarming smiles when they realise ‘I can do this’ speak more than any words ever could,” Hugo said.

QSSA also offers baby group swimming, water safety for children two years and older, stroke development and refinement coaching for all ages, and aqua aerobics.

Visit www.qssa.co.za or contact Leslena Stoffels on 082 550 5588 for more information.

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