Cody Unser is an ambitious young woman who is rarely seen without her big smile.
A scion of Indy 500 racing greats, the 29-year-old was recently selected along with five other women for the Women Divers Hall of Fame for her work as a Disability Awareness Advocate, Adaptive Scuba Medical Crusader, and Peer Mentor. She is determined to use her life to make an impact.
Yet, you would never be able to tell that when she was younger, she was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis (TM), a neurological condition that injures the spinal cord, leaving her paralyzed and restrained to a wheelchair.
At the time of her diagnosis, her physicians had little information about this disease. To raise awareness about TM, at the age of 13, she and her mother founded the Cody Unser First Step Foundation to raise awareness, foster medical collaboration, and develop quality-of-life programs for those with transverse myelitis, the autoimmune condition that left her paralyzed. Her foundation’s focus on mainstreaming adaptive scuba for over a decade and its potential as a therapeutic tool in exercise science is creating a buzz in the medical and dive industries.
(Photo courtesy of the Cody Unser First Step Foundation)
WATCH: Inspiring Interview with Cody
Through her foundation, Cody’s Great SCUBA Adventures and Operation Deep Down, Cody pioneered the way to the first conventional SCUBA-Medical study with her doctors from Johns Hopkins on the Neurological and Psychological effects of SCUBA on paralysis, gaining the notoriety and attention needed for future studies.
Cody and Warrior Transition Battalion Soldiers at Fort Bliss getting ready to try Scuba in 2014 (Photo courtesy of the Cody Unser First Step Foundation)
The New Mexico based non-profit has provided support for those who also suffer from various forms of paralysis. A large part of the foundation is devoted to helping those who are paralyzed to lead lives that resemble those they lead before paralysis.
Prior to finding out she had TM, Cody enjoyed participating in water sports. Since her diagnosis, she has found scuba diving to be not only therapeutic, but essential for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. She founded Cody’s Great Scuba Adventures, a branch off of her foundation that has helped paraplegics explore the positive neurological and physical effects of scuba diving.
Because of her work in scuba diving, she has also participated in a research study in the Cayman Islands. Along with nine veterans, scuba instructors, and physicians, Cody studied the effects of scuba diving on the paralyzed body…
To read the rest of this story from our partner, Taking on the Giant, click here.
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