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SYDNEY, N.S. —

Gabriel Wall had a fear of water.

The 10-year-old lives in Whitney Pier and battles muscular dystrophy. And then he met Rick Hanes, a volunteer instructor at the Kiwanis Pool in Sydney — and everything changed.

"To see someone who wouldn’t even get his face wet to go under the water and blow bubbles, it was amazing,” said Gabriel's mother Cindy Wong.

“He can’t walk. He needs help with most of his daily activities but now he comes here and he can swim on his own.”

Off-duty lifeguard Sean McPhee, centre, of Reserve Mines, helps lower Gabriel Wall into the Kiwanis Pool during a swimming lesson.

Hanes is a retired Canada Post employee from New Waterford who has been volunteering his time for many years teaching adults and children how to swim.

“I mainly work with children with special needs,” he said. “That’s what I love to do.”

Hanes, 66, had a heart attack 13 years ago and he began to swim at the Kiwanis Pool for the exercise.

He is also well known in the community as a swimmer who for 15 years has been swimming across Lingan Bay.

"Swimming is one of the best stress-free exercises there is and it's probably one of the best ones you can do for cardiac rehab,” he said.

Hanes began helping out at the Kiwanis Pool, teaching adults and children how to swim. About seven years ago pool manager Beatrice Prince introduced him to the three-day Swim to Survive provincial government program for Grade 3 students.

Shortly after getting involved with the program, Hanes began to work with a special needs child and over the years has continued to work with many children with different types of disabilities.

“It’s very satisfying because I know they will swim, I just don't know how long it will take,” he said.

Hanes said he gives each child swimming options and each always adapts to what best suits them.

"One little boy has his own leg kick and I think it's the most efficient leg kick there is I don't know how he does it, but he propels himself through the water.”

Gabriel Wall

Grade 4 student at Harbourside Elementary School in Whitney Pier

Takes swimming lessons at the Kiwanis Pool.

Loves playing video games.

Loves vegetables.

Several months ago, Hanes met Gabriel Wall through the same program and has been working with him since. Wall’s condition, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is a genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. It is one of nine types of muscular dystrophy.

Gabriel Wall during a swimming lesson at the Kiwanis Pool in Sydney. Gabriel’s mother Cindy Wong said her son was always scared of the water until he met Rick Hanes.

Wall had a fear of the water and didn't know how to swim but Hanes was quickly aware of how hard the little boy tries.

"He doesn't say ‘I can’t’ or ‘I won’t’,” he said. “I get some children who don’t have any special needs who say it but Gabriel never has."

Wong said her son has a special trust for Hanes and it makes Gabriel try even harder.

She still remembers seeing him swim for the first time.

“It was very emotional,” she said. “Rick is an excellent teacher and has so much patience. He forms a special bond with the kids. They just love him.”

“When he walks in the pool, it’s something for him that he can’t do outside of the pool,” Wong said of Gabriel, who has been confined to a wheelchair for two years.

Cindy Wong

“He really likes the water and has lots of good friends here now too.

Hanes said he gives Gabriel homework, arm exercises to do at night and the young boy always does it and it has paid off. About three weeks ago Gabriel swam the length of the pool.

“It was very emotional, unbelievable,” Hanes said of Gabriel’s progress. “He swam right from the deep end to the other end. I didn't touch him, he did it all on his own. It was really emotional.”

Hanes is also assisting several other students including one who is autistic and another with a learning disability.

Wong said for swimming is the top-rated exercise for her son as it doesn’t put a lot of stress on his muscles.

“Swimming is Muscular Dystrophy Canada’s top exercise for someone like him,” she said, adding it’s good to keep him flexible as his muscles weaken.

As well Wong said it’s great for safety reasons.

“He can float now and he can swim. If we were somewhere and he happens to fall in, he knows what to do now.”

Barbara Stead-Coyle

Barbara Stead-Coyle, chief executive officer for Muscular Dystrophy Canada, said muscular dystrophy presents differently in each person.

“What we always say is, ‘A journey through muscular dystrophy is a very unique journey to the individual who is dealing with it.’”

Stead-Coyle said they always recommend the person checks with their primary caregiver to determine the best course of treatment course.

However, she said people living with muscular dystrophy must be informed and make decisions that are the right decisions for their life.

“If this boy is getting a great deal of enjoyment, socialization and a positive quality of life, then that is never a bad thing,” she said.

“Whether or not his physician and caregivers would say there is a direct benefit for his muscular dystrophy, the quality of life piece is just as important.”

Stead-Coyle said they talk about people being able to live a full and complete life on their terms.

Although she doesn’t know Gabriel Wall, she said his accomplishments are amazing. She said one cannot put limits on what a person with muscular dystrophy can achieve.

“You will constantly be surprised and amazed at how resilient they are and their passion, their dedication and their commitment,” she said.

“We live in a world when we get to see people doing remarkable things, while living with a muscular disorder.”