Kelly Talamantes
No one can slow down Kelly Talamantes of Fort Worth. Moving from Florida with her husband and two children, they were well settled until one night in April of 2017. Returning home from an evening out, a young driver turned in front of, and struck, Kelly and her husband. The resulting collision sent them both off the bike at 50 miles per hour, killing her husband on impact. Kelly received serious injuries and spent four days unconscious, in critical condition.
Her left leg was badly damaged in the crash and amputated above the knee. Despite the horrifying tragedy that had taken so much from her, Kelly survived and began a long fight to return to normalcy. Her kids and community remained her supportive bedrock and a positive influence throughout the process of rehabilitation. She worked hard in therapy to regain her mobility and by October of that same year had begun walking with a prosthetic. She didn’t stop there. Later, she learned how to skip and even jump rope. Having always enjoyed swimming, Kelly found a new love for the activity after the accident. The water provided a range of motion unparalleled for her on land, a truly liberating experience. She does not consider herself disabled at all, having adapted to her amputation well. In fact, she is now living a life scarcely different from anyone else.
Kelly heard about the Dive Pirates through a member of the Adaptive Training Foundation, while learning to snowboard. She was in contact with us not long after. Interested in the sport of scuba diving for a long time now, she hopes to dive in the Cayman Islands soon with the Dive Pirates. Kelly Talamantes learned to dive with Rich Thomas of International Scuba.