Handicapped Scuba Association Marks 60 Years of Service

The Handicapped Scuba Association (HSA) announced that it will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2026.
Over the years, the organization has taken handicapped scuba diving from infancy to its current prime position in the scuba diving industry.
The organization has many highlights over the years: In 1972, when Jim Gatacre suffered a severe injury that left his right arm paralyzed, he faced the prospect of amputation. While recovering at the University of California, Irvine, he found community in the veterans’ office and met Mike, the Dean of Veterans Affairs and a former Navy SEAL. Mike proposed training paraplegics to scuba dive. Gatacre accepted the challenge and shifted his mindset from limitations to possibilities.
After nearly a year of campaigning, the first formal class of five paraplegic veterans took place in June 1975. The excitement spread beyond the divers themselves: Family and friends celebrated the chance for others with disabilities to experience challenge, camaraderie and renewed confidence.
The HSA was founded by veterans with disabilities and carries a distinctive perspective shaped by those who live and dive with impairments. The organization’s logo was designed by Jim Gatacre’s wife, Pat, and is a porthole framing a diver crossing out a wheelchair,  symbolizing ability rather than limitation.
For more info about the organization, go to hsascuba.org.