Los Caminos del Rio hosts clinic to introduce disabled paddlers to water

GRANJENO - George Garcia’s canoe glides swiftly through the waters of the Rio Grande.

With a paddle attached to his shoulder, his right arm dips into the river in long, fluid strokes. His left arm — which ends abruptly just after the elbow — rests at his side.

After losing his forearm in a 2006 motorcycle accident, some might have told the 23-year-old former football player his career in sports was over. But Garcia has never been the type to shy away from a challenge.

“I love people that say, ‘He can’t do this,’” he said. “I love to prove people wrong.”

Garcia was one of several disabled participants this week in a two-day clinic designed to demonstrate opportunities in water-based sports for those suffering from quadriplegia, paraplegia and other handicaps. Organized by the ecological and historic conservation group Los Caminos del Rio, the program introduced them first to the waters of the University of Texas-Pan American pool and then the river’s flow.

“Water is the most inclusive medium,” said Cindy Dillenschneider, an outdoor education specialist at Northland College in Ashland, Wisc., who designed the one-armed kayak paddle Garcia demonstrated. “There are all sorts of ways to access the water, whether it’s swimming, paddling a single-person boat, or a tandem boat. Once you’re in the boat, you’re an equal.”

Dillenschneider has carved out a niche for herself introducing people with disabilities to the possibilities of outdoor activities.

She dreamed up the idea for the paddle — a contraption that straps on across the torso, rests on the shoulder, and rotates in the air above one side of the body — after a paddling trip she took with three people with paraplegia.

“Much of our challenge has not been convincing people with disabilities they can do this, it’s convincing the able-bodied population that these people are just as capable and just as interested in pursuing activities that they’ve always pursued,” she said.

She began distributing her patented device last June and already has a waiting list of people with upper-limb impairments waiting to get them.

At Thursday’s demonstration at Anzalduas County Park, even able-bodied paddlers were eager to try out her invention for a new take on their favorite sport.

“She’s another person that can help make the point that this river is vastly underutilized, yet open to all people,” said Eric Ellman, executive director of Los Caminos Del Rio. “If people with special needs can use it, that shows just about anyone can use it.

For Garcia, who manages just as well with a traditional two-handed kayak paddle despite his missing hand, a chance to try out Dillenschneider’s invention sparked hope that he might be able to encourage others like him not to give up on themselves.

A former player for the semi-pro Edinburg Landsharks, his football career ended after a car ran into his motorcycle four years ago off 5 Mile Line in Mission.

“When I woke up, I realized my hand wasn’t there,” he said. “I didn’t get depressed. The only thing I said to myself was, ‘What am I going to do now? Life is going to be a little more challenging than it was before.’”

He now keeps active playing soccer and kayaking when he can get the chance. After this week’s clinic, he signed on to become a paddling instructor with Caminos group.

“I can be that person that can tell people they’re going to be OK in the future,” he said. “When they hear it from someone else, it’s nice. But coming from me, I hope it can inspire people to succeed. I went through it. I lived it.”

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4437.