ERCAN TUTAL

Empower the world by breaking your mental limits. Ercan’s story redefines disability as society’s incapacity to fulfill everyone’s potential.

He was born in Istambul, Turkey where the disabled are “often hidden away in their homes” watching TV without any positive role models. After studying languages in Germany and Italy, he learned that other societies approached disability differently from his home country.

Ercan believed that active lifestyle, and the connection with your body is a vehicle to learn about your abilities and limitations. As a scuba dive instructor he wanted to convey this idea and his love for the sea to society at large.

So in 2002, he founded a free camp that teaches scuba diving to people with disabilities in Bodrum, Turkey. Since then, the camp has hosted 400 participants each season and the story has been shown in over 40 TV productions providing positive role models for those watching at home.

Undoubtedly, Ercan’s most powerful contribution is showing us that disabilities are false beliefs about being less powerful than we are.