Now, in the UK, every 16-year-old had to get involved with a community project, so this involved a 12-week stint or something of going to a charity every week for an afternoon to help out.This was to,basically,give something back to the local community.
So I, like any teenager, looked for something simple and easy to do, something that I was naturally good at and I’m a real water baby, right? So,I went to help handicapped children to swim because taking handicapped people swimming is really hard work, you need lots of hands and eyes on the job.You need to have a bit of extra muscle power to get them from their wheelchairs into the water. And,of course, you also have mentally handicapped children who-these were actually adults as well-, who tend to do weird and wonderful things just as you’re getting into the water. So, you have to really have an extra pair of hands.So I was that extra pair of hands and I’m a real water baby, right?
I grew up in the South West of England. At the coast,I grew up exploring in rockpools,for sea anemones and crabs and all this lovely stuff. Swimming, then sailing, then windsurfing, then diving. I mean, I am a complete water baby. So,this for me was a really wonderful way to do this.I found out about this school. I went to see them and asked them when I could do this and so on.
But then … I had a week to think about it and I, you know, between making the arrangements and actually starting, then I started thinking,
What happens if they don’t like me?
What happens if they’re frightened of me?
What happens if they don’t want me to touch them?
What happens if somebody drowns or I don’t see that their head is underwater?
Or what happens if they slip?
What happens if there’s nobody to help me?
All of these thoughts were like charging around in my head, and I’m like, Oh my goodness, what have I let myself in for?
Have you ever been in that situation? I find myself in this situation rather a lot