For most people, slipping into the backyard pool is simple. For 19-year-old Bridger Larson of Flower Mound, it has always required someone else’s help.
Now, thanks to the generosity of a dozen North Texas pool professionals, Bridger — who has an ultra-rare genetic disorder and has used a wheelchair since birth — can more easily experience something he loves: the freedom of being in the water.
Led by Casey and Stephanie Gardner of Flower Mound-based No Worries Pool Care, the Mid-Cities Region 12 Chapter of the Independent Pool Spa Service Association purchased and installed an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant pool lift Sept. 11 at the Larson family’s home.
“We hope you feel our immense gratitude for this amazing gift to Bridger and our whole family,” his mother, Cynthia, wrote in a text to Casey Gardner, the chapter’s secretary and past president.
“After 19 years, we stopped trying to make life easier and just accept the hard. Because hard is still beautiful because it’s with Bridger, and he is a gift to us.”
Bridger, a “super senior” at Flower Mound High School, has congenital disorder of glycosylation. Cynthia and her husband, Alan, learned of the diagnosis from a doctor in Washington, D.C., where they lived before moving to Texas seven years ago. Bridger has used a wheelchair since birth and has global disabilities, including seizures.
He is the second-youngest of five children, ages 17 to 24. Besides making it easier for Bridger to get into the pool, the lift means his younger sister can independently help him into the water to splash with her.
“But this generous act of service to our family not only improves Bridger’s quality of life and brought a heap o’ easier to our tired bodies right when we needed it, but it goes beyond that,” Cynthia said. “The gift for my children to see this beautiful and quiet display of humanity with all those men out there changes them.
“This reminder of the tremendous goodness there is right in our community will have a lasting impact on all of us. Please extend our family’s gratitude to all of those that were part of this blessing to our family.”
Besides the Gardners, those involved were Doug Holcomb of Pool Care Specialists, Doug Taylor of Swim Eco-Smart, Benjamin Goforth of Goforth Pools, Cesar Ibarra of Protégé Pools, Craig Williams of Clearly Perfect, Barry Luckie of A+ Pools, Tony Sandoval of Clarity Pool Solutions, Tristan Taylor of Mr. Right Pool Service, Mike Bomalick of B and B Pools, Brant Rydberg of Global Pool Products and Tom Coker of Tom Coker Pool Corporation.
The Gardners’ company had serviced the Larsons’ pool for several years when Casey learned about Bridger’s challenges after the family retrofitted its home. He proposed the lift as a community outreach project to the chapter, and the group quickly agreed. Rydberg arranged for the equipment to be purchased at a reduced price.
“We started talking about it in July,” said Stephanie Gardner, the chapter’s longtime president. “It happened pretty fast. We thought we could use it as a training opportunity for all of the members of our chapter.”
The chapter previously helped build the Swimming Fishies Swim School in Argyle. It also hosts an annual art auction benefiting swimming education. The next auction is scheduled for November at the Sports Garden in Coppell.
“I didn’t even know they knew I had a boy in a wheelchair,” Cynthia said. “It just shows how completely observant they are. We’re kind of invisible. We kind of keep to ourselves.”
For Bridger, the new lift provides more than an easier way into the water. It gives him a little more freedom once he gets there.
“He can’t do much in life, and his friend group is getting smaller and smaller. But he can get in the pool and be weightless and feel free. He’ll be able to actually feel his legs and walk in the pool.”
