Free Scuba for wounded warriors

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - Sometimes when there's not much you can do, you do what you can.

"It's been stressful, very stressful to see all your unit leave and you're here," said Navy Reservist Emily Lundquist.

Far from her home in Michigan, Lundquist does almost everything inside a hotel room.

"My job is to recover and get myself through this," said Lundquist.

Lundquist fell from a shipping container in Iraq. Laid up after surgery on her knee and back, she got in touch with her creative side.

"Yeah, I really have coloring books; we have fairies and Sponge Bob and Disney," she joked.

Stir crazy, Lundquist desired something more physical. Outside Lynnhaven Dive Center, she saw a message of hope.

"I've always wanted to dive and I saw the dive center," said Lundquist.

So did National Guardsman Josh Humberger.

He calls himself an amputee, who doesn't act like one.

"There's still things I can't do, steps, ladders, things like that," said Humberger.

Diving is something he can do.

"You feel, pretty much, completely free.  You feel you can go anywhere, do anything," said Humberger.

Freedom, physically and spiritually.

"Well, I'm a pretty big guy so it feels really nice to not bear all that weight all the time," said Humberger.

"When I'm underwater it's kind of like there's nothing, I can do anything I want to and I'm just normal," he continued.

A weightlessness that extends to every sense of their being.

"I wish I could stay in here all the time," said Lundquist.

Owner Lindsey Hillier is behind this profound gift.

"We really wanted to recognize the people coming back fighting from war," said Hillier.

Until they can get home, being in the water feels like the closest thing.

The Lynnhaven Dive Center is looking to train more wounded warriors for free.

The program is funded by sponsor ADS.

Click here to visit Lynnhaven Dive Center for more information.