Carmelo La Rocca is a passionate scuba diver and advocate for making the sea accessible for people with disabilities. After a terrible car accident left him in a wheelchair for a year at the age of 17, he dedicated his life to teaching diving to people with disabilities and creating initiatives to integrate disadvantaged individuals through sports and education. He has set multiple world records for diving with paraplegia and blindness, created the first tactile marine biology trail in Italy, and established several rehabilitation programs with specific training and HSA certification. He has also shared his knowledge with organizations in Malta to make their seas more accessible for people with disabilities. Despite the challenges he has faced, Carmelo La Rocca serves as an inspiration for overcoming barriers and turning a love for the sea into a way to help others. His ultimate goal is to create an accessible academy boat where people of all abilities can participate in activities together.
He is an example of selflessness and unconditional love for the sea and his motto is "I am I can I do". At 56 years old, he was born in Palermo, but has adopted Catania as his home. He works as an interpreter for the US government at the military base in Sigonella and has been a professional diver since 1995. He is a true example of how one can overcome difficulties and use their passions to make a positive impact on the world.
He has taken his personal experience and turned it into a mission to help others and that is why he has been dedicated to the integration of disadvantaged people, particularly those with disabilities, through sport and education. He has created a specific section of his association dedicated to scuba diving, aimed at helping people with disabilities and those at high risk of social exclusion to regain their independence and autonomy through the sport and activities. His record of achievement is impressive, including the world record of diving for paraplegic and blind, the opening of a marine biology tactile path presented by a blind diver from the depths to sighted people at the surface, the creation of the first tactile underwater archaeology path in Italy, and the implementation of various rehabilitation programs with specific training for disabled and HSA certification recognized nationally and internationally. He has also shared his knowledge with organizations in Malta to make their seas more accessible for people with disabilities.
Carmelo La Rocca is an example of how barriers can be broken down despite the difficulties that life presents. He has shown this through his own resurgence, like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, by turning his love for the sea into help for people in difficulty and disadvantage, giving them the desire to start living a normal life again. His dream is the creation of an accessible academy boat where people of all abilities can participate in activities together, a traveling integration center where disabled and non-disabled individuals can fully experience the sea in a playful and informative way with family and friends. The sea is life, it fascinates with its inhabitants and its history full of charm and mystery. This should be accessible to everyone.
The story of a Catanian scuba diver who ended up in a wheelchair after a sea accident but thanks to his determination and the help and professionalism of Mr. Carmelo La Rocca, he was able to start diving again as evidenced by the article below: https://www.lasicilia.it/news/home/155601/storia-di-francesco-paraplegico-che-torna-ad-essere-sub.html
-Inauguration of a tactile marine biology trail presented by a blind diver from the depths to sighted people on the surface; -Realization of the first tactile underwater archaeology trail in Italy, financed and donated to AMP of Acitrezza. http://www.regione.sicilia.it/beniculturali/archeologiasottomarina/sez_itinerari/itinerario_ciclopi.htm
-Awarded the Sirenetta prize in 2006 for his work in favor of people with disabilities -World record HSA dive for paraplegic subject -World record HSA dive for blind subject https://www.sigonellascubaclub.com/ -Record of Martino Florio reported by an American television https://youtu.be/O7IuMsYMbjA -Attestation of World Record demonstration of Martino Florio among the co-signatories the great Enzo Maiorca. 29/August /2006 -51 Mt Plemmirio of Sr -Record of Benedetta Spampinato 26 August 2007 -41 Mt. Always at Plemmirio of Sr. With Maiorca during the record of Benedetta -Realization of several videos with dives with disabled subjects among the most beautiful:
Differently Straight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V5clLmd5qc&feature=youtu.be Free the Spirit: https://youtu.be/l0T9si9ei34 Among the future projects is the restoration of the Tactile Path for the Blind of Underwater Archaeology at Amp of Acitrezza Catania https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQug8ydFDa8&feature=youtu.be This year he wants to create a traveling boat equipped for the disabled, in which various activities can be carried out. Mr. Carmelo La Rocca has spent his personal capital to purchase a boat that he will make available to people with different disabilities and elderly people who still want to experience the sea safely. The sense of altruism of Mr. La Rocca could be summarized in having turned his negative experience, the disabling accident at the age of 17, into a "life" spent for the well-being of the sea and wanting to make it accessible to people with disabilities in its completeness. An example of great altruism and sensitivity to be used as an example for future generations.