Susan Southwick
Susan Southwick
Susan always wanted to learn to scuba dive, however, she couldn’t get her head around how that works as an amputee. Flipping through an amputee magazine recently, she found an article listing all of the different organizations that support scuba diving for amputees, She found us, and we are glad she did!
Susan loves the outdoors and loved her job as a pole climber with the local utility company in the Boston area. One day while on a motorcycle trek with friends heading to New Hampshire to see the fall foliage, a drunk driver hit her convoy. The girl on the motorcycle in front of her was hit first, and as Susan tried to comprehend what was happening, she was hit next. Her friend lost her leg instantly and was airlifted from the scene; Susan was transported by ambulance, and the next day she too lost her leg. She was 27 at the time.
Living in a wheelchair for a year, she was so happy to be finally fitted for a prosthetic and gain more mobility. The pain, however, was overwhelming, and she struggled with her prosthetic for 7 years before revision surgeries finally gave her the relief she needed.
She did lose her job as a poll climber; however, the company kept her in-house and she transitioned into engineering. She grew a career in managing technology, and is happy to say she just retired to Florida! She is now making jewelry mixing sand from select beaches and mixing it with crushed turquoise. Her wife Gigi plans to be her adaptive buddy and they will be training with….