How two crashes and love of ocean changed a life

Maria Munn took up swimming after the car accidents

"The ocean is a great healer but I never dreamt it would lead to this."

Maria Munn, from Swanage, Dorset, struggled to walk after she was hit by a car when she was a child and then again by a lorry in 1994.

Fast forward to today and she is pursuing her passion for the sea after an injury forced her to give up her job as a healthcare support worker.

Having used swimming and snorkelling to aid her recovery following the car accidents, she is now an underwater photographer and runs a snorkelling school for children.

Ms Munn spent more than three years learning how to walk again following the 1994 crash, which left her with 15 fractures and multiple other injuries.

It was during that recovery she discovered her love of the water.

The environmentalist's latest project has seen her removing abandoned fishing nets from beaches in Dorset

In 2022, she began to dedicate more time towards her passion after an injury forced her to leave the hospital work behind.

It has given her more time to engage with visitors to Dorset and "inspire people to see how beautiful our oceans are".

She said: "I have found so much beauty snorkelling on the Dorset coastline and want to show that it’s open to people with disabilities too."

Her latest project has been collecting washed-up fishing nets from beaches in Swanage and upcycling them into bracelets.

"It’s broken my heart to see creatures like whales and basking sharks caught in these nets," Ms Munn said.

Ms Munn also works as an underwater photographer

She has collected multiple "ghost nets" over the years and has recently sent them to Behaviour Change Cornwall, which can turn them into jewellery.

She is selling the bracelets to raise money for her snorkelling school which she runs near Swanage Pier.

Reflecting on the work her school does, she said: "It's amazing seeing how excited the children were to see their first fish underwater.

"I want to inspire as many people as I can and show them that our oceans are full of beautiful marine life, that hopefully we can all work together to protect."