WATCH ABOVE: An Edmonton man who grew up without arms or legs is trying everything from dancing to scuba diving as he hosts a new TV show. Su-Ling Goh has more.
EDMONTON — An Edmonton man, who lost his arms and legs to meningitis when he was five years old, hopes his role in a new television series will inspire others to come out of their comfort zones.
Daniel Ennett is the host of ‘Invicible,’ which explores the challenges faced by people with disabilities across the country. The series follows the 21-year-old around the province as he tries new activities, many of which a lot of able-bodied people would be too scared to attempt.
“I’m not scared of a whole lot, mainly because I agree to it and then I regret it as I’m doing it, so it’s a little too late by then,” Ennett said with a laugh.
His favourite experience so far was sailing on Calgary’s Glenmore Reservoir.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into normally sailing a boat – taking the sails and being able to control the rudders – and being able to do that from a stationary position was pretty empowering.”
One of Ennett’s latest conquests was scuba diving, which he admits was a bit nerve-racking.
- Trudeau says ‘good luck’ to Saskatchewan premier in carbon price spat
- Canadians more likely to eat food past best-before date. What are the risks?
- Hundreds mourn 16-year-old Halifax homicide victim: ‘The youth are feeling it’
- On the ‘frontline’: Toronto-area residents hiring security firms to fight auto theft
“It’s a very surreal experience, especially because I don’t have a lot of control down there,” he explained. “I have no way to properly equalize because you have to plug your nose to do that, so I was relying on someone else to help me equalize, which was super sketchy.”
The show’s producer and director, Frederick Kroetsch of Open Sky Pictures, says he was inspired to make ‘Invincible’ after meeting Ennett last year. Kroetsch found he and Ennett had very similar demeanours.
“He’s got a very dark sense of humour. He can sort of laugh at anything and I think that’s the kind of attitude you want when you’re doing things like scuba diving,” said Kroetsch.
And so far, there’s been nothing Ennett won’t do.
“We were going to try skydiving and Daniel was like, ‘Sign me up.’ But apparently you can’t do it in the winter so maybe next summer we’ll go skydiving,” said Kroetsch.
“A lot of people wouldn’t do that, but Daniel’s like, ‘I’ll do it!'”
That’s exactly the attitude the pair hopes to instill in those who watch the show. And while the series is all about showcasing others who have harnessed an invincible spirit, Kroetsch says he’s learned a lot too.
“I think I’m a slightly more chilled out dude after hanging out with Daniel for six months. Because whenever anything starts to bother me in life I just think about this show and Daniel and all the people we’ve met overcoming obstacles and it’s kind of like, ‘I think I’ll just relax a little.'”
You can catch Invincible on Telus TV and YouTube. The team hopes to one day expand the series into a travel show to see how people with disabilities live in communities around the world.
With files from Su-Ling Goh, Global News.
Comments