A real, live mermaid, aka Nadya Vessey, visited the island last week to swim with six-year-old Charlotte Cleverley-Bisman.

The mermaid, aka Nadya Vessey, came to the island for a few days holiday, and on her list of activities was a meeting with Charlotte, as they have two important things in common; they both love to swim and they are both double amputees. Nadya lost her legs in childhood due to underdevelopment of her limbs, and Charlotte as a result of meningococcal septicaemia when she was six months old.

The story of Nadya’s mermaid transformation started in 2005 when she was asked by a little boy who saw her take off her prosthetic legs before getting in the water, “where are the rest of your legs?” She answered, “ Have you heard of the Little Mermaid, well I’m a mermaid.”

This answer planted a seed and having always been a keen swimmer and frustrated with her disability in the water, Nadya was surfing the web when she saw that Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshop (responsible for all the costumes in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy among others) had a prosthetics department. She took a punt, emailing them to see if they could make her a mermaid tail.

They answered immediately, offering to donate their time and expertise if Nadya could cover the cost of the materials.  After applying to the Kerr Taylor Trust, she received a grant of $2500 and the casual idea suddenly turned into a beautiful, full body rubber suit complete with a stunning scaly tail.

She can now move at a good speed through the water, propelled by the up and down movement of the tail. “The only problem,” says Nayda with a grin “ is I need a good jumping off point. It’s pretty hard to get into this suit and then into the water just from a sitting position on the sand. A man with a boat and a launching pad would be perfect.” She also has to be careful not to get water or sand on her prosthetic legs.

It’s pretty clear that this woman has not let her disability get in the way of having a life. She has been to university, married, had a daughter, travelled the world on her own, taught English in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, and worked in an Auckland prison teaching prisoners about computers.

However on a day when things don’t feel so great, Nadya says the best thing for her mental, emotional and spiritual health is to get into the sea.

And if Charlotte, who loves mermaids, ever needs a role model – as well as someone to go swimming with – it seems she has found the perfect person. •

Julianne Evans