On June 6th, 2024, we had the honor and the opportunity to facilitate a Jump/Dive with Trident Adventures.

The Gleason Foundation flew out the Garfield family to join Trident Adventures on Tuesday, 04 June 2024 as a group of snorkelers which included Maile Garfield, Bradley Garfield (Hubby), Heidi Childs, Derek Garfield, Melissa Jones.

However, Steve Kaplan the owner of Trident Adventures, and a retired US Navy SEAL, convinced them they were capable of doing a Discover Scuba Dive instead! Maile, who suffers with ALS was up for it. 10 feet turned out to be that days limit because her ears wouldn’t clear (which is common) but she did dive for about 30 min and saw many turtles, tons of Hawaiian sea-life and she even saw a 6ft white tip reef shark! Let’s call that a epic first training dive! Steve and the Trident Team decided that Maile had to get another opportunity to do more and see more at the diving site! Undeterred as Steve is quite well known to be, the entire family was offered another opportunity to try scuba diving again on Thursday, 06 June 2024.

But this time it was time to ratchet up the epicness even more! Honor Watch Foundation funded the “upgraded” epic adventure of a Helicopter Cast (jump) from the Trident Adventures Twin Star helicopter into the ocean! Maile and her 3 children, Heidi, Derek, and Melissa all received additional training and took the plunge to meet the Dive Boat just outside Diamond Head.

Keep in mind, Maile cannot stand or walk unassisted. Maile’s husband, 30-year retired EOD Tech US Marine, and father of the 3 kids, watched as his wife and amazing family each jumped! After the jumps, the family, all learned how to scuba together under guided conditions! This time Maile was able to go all the way down to 40ft!

One of the most moving moments of the experience was while in the sandy area, Maile was even able to walk and dance with her husband, which was the first time in a very long time the two could “walk” together in the underwater weightless environment.

After the jump and dive, Maile gleefully exclaimed that this was the best day of her life! The Honor Watch Foundation offers life-changing experiences for the Disabled, through these charitable outreaches. Trident Adventures also offers training to civilians, military personnel, and veterans through their VA Educational benefits program. Their team is unmatched in their dedication and skill in serving others at every opportunity presented to them.

It was an honor and heartwarming to see this unfold and make a powerful difference in the lives of others!

http://honorwatch.org