Ford Mobility ambassadors go swimming with sharks

Two Ford Mobility ambassadors, who have supported Ford of Britain's drive to get more than 500,000 people with disabilities behind the wheel, put their impairments aside to swim with sharks.

Fraser Bathgate, who is paralysed from the waist down following a climbing accident, and Jason Richards, who was left paralysed from the chest down after a motorcycle accident, both climbed in with the fearsome-looking 10ft Sand Tiger sharks at the Blue Planet Aquarium at Ellesmere Port in Merseyside.

They were using the thrilling experience to promote mobility and accessibility for people with disabilities.

Fraser and Jason are ambassadors for Ford Mobility who provide vehicles to disabled people through the Motability Contract Hire Scheme.

Ford has over 850 Motability specialists at around 455 accredited Ford Dealers, and the company was also a founding member of the Motability Scheme, launched by the government in 1978.

In the last three years alone the Motability Scheme has enabled more than 450,000 disabled customers and their families to lease or buy a car using their government funded allowance.

Jason, who won a bronze medal for javelin and the Best Newcomer Award at the British National Wheelchair Championships within a year of his accident, also went on to become the British champion in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m wheelchair-racing events.

He said: "It was an amazing experience swimming with the sharks. The aquarium has a hoist, which we used, and this means people with disabilities also have the chance to swim with sharks just like able-bodied people."

Fraser, who defied the odds to become the world's first wheelchair-bound scuba instructor in 1994 and who has been recruited by the US government to help rebuild the shattered lives of soldiers injured in Iraq, added: "At one point, one of the sharks was hovering on our laps.

"It was quite an experience and it proved that these sharks are not as dangerous as people think."

In their roles as Ford Mobility Ambassadors, Fraser and Jason – who each drive specially-adapted S-MAX models, promote Ford's involvement in various mobility initiatives at motor shows across the UK, including the Mobility Road Show, the world’s largest outdoor mobility event for disabled and elderly people, their carers and families.

Roelant de Waard, chairman and managing director of Ford of Britain, said: "We consider the particular needs of disabled people in all our designs.

"Ford engineers have a strong working relationship with the Motability Scheme to get feedback on the design of our cars. One example is the power- assisted steering on the Focus, which has been developed to cater for specific Motability requirements."