Sailability brings smiles and a sense of freedom on the water for people with disabilities

Jason East sits behind the steering wheel of a pontoon boat with nothing but the gentle breeze off the water and the passing sailboats to distract him.

"When you're out on the water it's like leaving your disability behind," Mr East says.

"We're all equal on the water and there's a real freedom in that."

Jason East might need a wheelchair on land but on the water he says he is free. Mr East, who ordinarily uses a wheelchair, manoeuvres through the calm waters of Cairns' Trinity Inlet in Far North Queensland.

It's his second trip of the day taking a boatload of passengers with disabilities for a gentle, afternoon sail.

Being on the water is second nature for the 46-year-old skipper after growing up on his family's yacht and working on boats in the Torres Strait.

But that idyllic lifestyle was up-ended 14 years ago after a motor vehicle crash left him using a wheelchair.

It took years of soul-searching and physical therapy before Mr East was ready to get back on the water.

At 32 years of age doctors labelled Mr East's injury as "incomplete", meaning the spinal cord was not severed completely, but he did lose all movement from the neck down.

It took 12 months in hospital and three years of depression before he was ready to come to terms with his injuries.

"It was a big adjustment coming home, trying to fit back into my old life and learning to accept myself," Mr East says.

Man on left close up of face and man on right in wheelchair
Sailing has strengthened a lot of Jason's muscle groups and given him more mobility.(Supplied: Jason East)
He discovered Sailability, an Australia-wide club that takes people with a disability sailing, and despite being "quite scared" initially it reignited his passion for the water.

"I'd been a commercial crayfish diver, and then after the accident I couldn't swim," he says.

Read full article here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-10/sailability-brings-smiles-freedo…