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He knows the loss of an arm
won’t make his work any easier;
the sea can be an unforgiving
companion. But he made a
promise to himself, and he has
every intention of keeping it. While
lying in his hospital bed after two
months in a medically induced
coma, Allen vowed he would return
to the Queen Anne’s Revenge by
the fall, when his dive team was
scheduled to help recover another
cannon from the nearly 300-year-
old wreck. “There is no way on
earth I’m going to miss that,”
Allen told himself back then.
He left the North Carolina
Jaycee Burn Center in March,
about three months earlier than his
physical therapists had anticipated.
Prosthetic technicians fashioned
Allen an arm made specifically for
diving, one using carbon fiber and
titanium with stainless steel fittings.
After enduring months of therapy
(he nicknamed his therapist, Hillary
Rose, “Hillary the Destroyer” for
the punishment she inflicted),
Allen deemed himself ready to dive
back into his work and the ocean.
On a cold, steel-gray day in late
October, Allen peered over the
side of the barge. He admitted
earlier he was a little nervous,
especially about getting back onto
the boat. That’s not always easy
for any diver, let alone one missing
an arm. Tom Piner, the boat’s
captain, helped solve the problem
by custom welding a ladder that
would basically allow Allen to
walk up a set of stairs.
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Homer
only one to
Wreck
diving
in Roatan
isn’t
explore
the
Odyssey.
for
less.
the
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