Batavia woman producing Midwest baseball documentary
My first contact with Barb Mabbs came in an e-mail. I had written a column about problems with wheelchair accessibility in the city of Chicago. She wrote that the city of Batavia had areas that need attention as well.
Barbara Mabbs uses a wheelchair for mobility. She has difficulty walking because of a neurological problem that was diagnosed when she was a senior at Batavia High School.
She didn't start using a wheelchair until she left her college studies at Western Illinois University.
You often hear about someone being "wheelchair bound." However, Barb Mabbs has never let a wheelchair stop her from doing the things that she loves.
She is one of the Kane County Cougars biggest fans attending all of the home games. She is a faithful volunteer at Batavia Access Television and regularly videotapes the services at her church.
She definitely has her own ideas and believes in supporting what she believes in. She traveled to Washington D.C. with the American Disability Association to voice her concern for the rights of the disabled.
She has goals and dreams. For the past five years, she has been working on a documentary about the Midwest minor league teams and their stadiums.
She has been canoeing at the boundary waters and out west. She loves the water and decided to try a new challenge.
"I signed up for a scuba diving course at Waubonsee Community College, " she said. "I couldn't do everything so I couldn't get certified but I did learn what I could do and that helped me a lot."
She decided to put what she had learned into action and headed to Florida to try her new found sport.
"It was amazing," she said. "You see these images on TV but it was nothing like what you see when you get into the water. The underwater world is so beautiful, the colors, the different types of fish. It's amazing."
She found a new freedom in going underwater. She dives to the 40-foot level and feels very free in her own world.
"My favorite thing is to just sit on the bottom of the sea and watch everything," she added. "It's like sitting in a giant aquarium."
On her third trip to Florida she dove with some experienced divers. One woman went in and then panicked because the water was choppy.
"She started yelling, 'Get me out, get me out,'" said Barb. "The I went in and didn't have a problem. Later I heard that she said, 'I guess that girl in the wheelchair really showed me up.'"
That comment made her day.
"I feel that you have to remain positive," she added. "You're in a wheelchair and you just have to make the best of it."
For now Mabbs is content watching the Cougars this summer but she does have a few ideas about what lies ahead.
"I like challenges where I know I can't fail. There are things I can do with a trainer or a partner," she added. "I was thinking sky diving would be fun. I can't imagine how freeing that must be."
She's conquered the sea. It's only a matter of time before she goes after the sky.