Report from Hoofddorp about Kay’s dolphin therapy

Written by Monique and Ferry

So here finally our report from Hoofddorp.

We waited a long time before writing our experience report about Kay’s dolphin therapy in August 2007. We wanted to see what effects it would have throughout the months following therapy.

Kay, a multiple complex disabled, 16 year old boy, experienced months of pain after a hip operation in June 2006 because of medical  egligence. Because of this, Kay lost all trust in his own body which led to muscle tension with a Scoliose-development of 65 degrees.
Although the pain-causing circumstances were removed after 5 months, the muscle tension remained.

In the following months Kay had a lot of Physiotherapy and Relaxtion therapies, but they had little or no success …

The decision was made to have a dolphin therapy in Antalya (Turkey), which we found doable even with the flight time of 4.5 hours which was very long for Kay and his Scolioseback. To avoid any bad surprises, Kay’s father visited Antalya for one day in May. The transportation of disabled people (Transport from wheelchair to airplane door) was well prepared working with the airline Martinair .

The flight Amsterdam-Dalaman and the transportation from Dalaman to Antalya went very well.

The Antalya Dolphin Resort consists of a 5-star-all-inclusive Hotel with six bungalows on the beach for the disabled patients, and we found the price to be acceptable.

We booked a family-bungalow room that was spacious enough and had a microwave and mixer in a type of mini-kitchen, had air conditioning and was directly at the beach right next to the dolphins that live in a floating pen in the ocean. Fantastic!

There was an adjustable hospital-bed available. There were almost no facilities to shower laying down, but with the therapy in the ocean and a big, accessible swimming pool nearby, hygiene was not a problem.

We got along well with the German guidance. After one day of acclimatisation Kay had ten days with an hour of dolphin therapy.

Because of the water temperature of 29°C Kay could swim without a wetsuit, just with a swim vest, in the ocean and thus could move freely.

Through his disablement Kay is dependent on his feelings for all communication, and that is why our Russian-English speaking therapist chose a dolphin with a basic education. Maya, a five-year old dolphin female, treated Kay’s legs from the beginning, instinctively  After one week Kay got back his confidence in his legs completely and in the swimming pool he stood up on his legs for the first time in his life. An unforgettable experience. Besides the dolphin therapy Kay also received Cranio-Sacral therapy daily, which is a type of Reiki for the central nervous system. This helped him relax even more.

Overall, the contact with the dolphin was a big success and the other family members had a great vacation. We recommend it highly for anyone wanting a little miracle with their disabled child. We would like to come back in 2008, preferably end of June-July

Monique and Ferry

For dolphin therapy related questions you can contact this family via email: