PT Hirshfield is a qualified Master Diver, with specialist training in Underwater Photography, Wreck Diving, Nitrox and Rescue. PT also has a certification in Underwater Navigation. She has over 1400 dives to her credit and numerous photography awards, including: Winner of the AIDE underwater photo competition in 2018 and Winner of Compact Macro division of the Ocean Art Photo Competition in 2020.
In 2010 PT was diagnosed with endometrial cancer and in 2014 was told it was incurable. “After lots of surgeries, they told me that I was considered terminal and I had palliative radiation and that it was time for me to give up work and do what made me happiest and to tick everything off my bucket list. I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life at that point. One of my dive buddies said ‘if I were you I would dive every day’.” PT decided she would dive as much as she could, which is between three and five times a week. It’s a journey that has taken her on dive trips across the world including the Philippines, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Bali and around Australia.
“For me, terminal cancer was not so much a death sentence as a wake-up call to start really living everyday more fully and doing what I was passionate about and sharing that with other people. It’s like I’ve got a better life now than what I had before when I was working everyday and not doing what I was most passionate about.” PT dives because it makes her feel truly alive, and there is nothing in the world like Ocean Therapy!
Visit PT at: https://pinktankscuba.com/
