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Nov 9, 2009 5:58 pm US/Eastern
Dolphin Therapy Program Helps Children Recover
KEY LARGO (CBS4) ―
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Families with children who have special needs or are sick have come from as Russia and Japan to take advantage of the program, which lets children play with the dolphins for five days alongside a physical therapist.
CBS4
Sometimes, one exceptional encounter can change the entire course of a person's life. That's the case for one South Florida family; it wasn't a meeting with a person, however, but a very special dolphin.
Now similar encounters are impacting thousands of children each year.
Joe Hoagland, 23, has an amazing story to tell. When he was three years old, he had a massive stroke during open heart surgery. He was in a coma; when he came out, Joe couldn't stand, walk or eat.
"His left side of body was paralyzed," his mother Deena said. Worse, Joe was not responding to traditional therapies. His desperate mother knew Joe loved the water. She begged the people with Dolphins Plus, a swim with the dolphins program in Key Largo, to let her put Joe in the water.
That moment changed everything for her family.
"This amazing dolphin named Fonzie came up right in front of us and Joe took one look at him and laughed," Deena recalled.
"I wanted to play with Fonzie so bad. He was really a motivator for me," Joe said. "I wanted him to be mine. I wanted to play with him. I felt a connection with him."
Over the following two years, Joe and Fonzie spent a lot of time together. The entire time, Deena watched Joe make incredible progress. "As a mom, to see my child so broken laugh and work so hard, I thought, 'Wow. If this gift is given to me, it's my job to give it to the world.'"
So Deena started Island Dolphin Care. She began in 1997 with Fonzie and three other dolphins. Twelve years later, she has six dolphins. Fonzie is no longer there, but his kids are.
Families with children who have special needs or are sick have come from as Russia and Japan to take advantage of the not-for-profit program, which lets children play with the dolphins for five days alongside a physical therapist.
But it's not just about the therapy. The focus is on bringing joy to children who oftentimes don't get a lot of it. Four-year-old Justin Kern has had two open heart surgeries.
"To give him an opportunity to do something that has no boundaries," Justin's father Drew said of the program. "That we're not holding him back; saying, 'Go out there, have a good time. Swim with these creatures.'"
Joshua Bateman, 18, is awaiting a liver transplant. "Sometimes you get down, 'cuz I can't do a lot of stuff I used to be able to do. Getting in contact with dolphins, it made me happy."
Joe now works at Island Dolphin Care. He has short-term memory issues but is otherwise doing well. He sees a bit of himself in the children who visit the center. "I tell them my story and they're like, 'it's not possible.' And I'm like, 'yeah, it's possible. Let's go and do this. Let's have fun.'"
Because of the economy, Island Dolphin Care is hurting. They give scholarships to families who can't afford to pay for the $2,200 five-day program and want to continue giving those.
On Saturday, Shannon Hori will emcee a fundraiser for the program. For more information,
click here.
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