Recipient Speaker
Scott Wilson, 2021 Dive Pirates Recipient
Scott comes from a military family and was working in the oilfield to save money while waiting to join the marines. Three weeks before the beginning of his military career an oilfield accident nearly took his life.
Equipment broke free and Scott was trying to jump clear of it as more than 15 thousand pounds of equipment came crashing down. Caught in the debris, his right leg and left arm were pinned. It took more than six hours to free him from the equipment, and he credits his uncle for saving his life. His uncle, who served in the first Gulf War, created a tourniquet and kept him from going into shock until help arrived.
The accident left him with a salvaged leg with an exposed nerve and an amputated left arm. Being left-handed, he learned to be a right-hander and decided to move from west Texas to San Antonio to pursue his education at UTSA.
He was working at SeaWorld as a mechanic when he picked up a paintbrush and found his next passion. A person who liked to draw and doodle as a child, he now has created a career out of painting. His work can be seen at ComicCon, area wineries and restaurants, and murals in and around San Antonio.
Meeting Dive Pirate Recipient Albert Garcia, a fellow arm amputee, he found out diving could be one of his next adventures. He trained with Instructor Gregg Wentworth through DiveMasters, San Antonio and traveled with the Dive Pirates to Key Largo, Florida in June, 2021.