CityView Magazine

February 2021

CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC

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24 Februar y 2021 24 February 2021 Fascinating FAYETTEVILLE Still Diving into a Challenge BY MICHAEL FUTCH PHOTOGRAPHY BY CINDY BURNHAM T en months aer losing most of his le arm and nearly his life, Rick Allen returned to the calming depths of the Atlantic Ocean, scuba-diving once again in all his Aquaman-like glory. Even a devastating explosion in the garage of his home 10 years ago failed to keep him out of the water. It's what this 57-year-old Fayetteville underwater videographer from the rugged mountains of North Carolina loves to do. "When I was in the hospital, my first goal was to go back diving on the Queen Anne's Revenge," he said last month of Blackbeard's storied 300-year-old pirate vessel that lies underwater near Beaufort Inlet. Since about 1998, Allen had been documenting the archaeological reclamation of the shipwreck. He has since challenged the sovereign immunity and copyright law in the United States, saying the state of North Carolina illegally published five of his videos to YouTube. e videos show archeological work at the Blackbeard shipwreck. Allen also charged that the state illegally published a photo he made of a research barge working at the wreck site. North Carolina disputes his allegations that its use of his videos and photo violated his copyright. Initially filed in late 2015, the legal issue against the N.C Department of Natural and Cultural Resources has since gone before the U.S. Supreme Court. In March of 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Allen saying that state governments had sovereign Just as it does in their daily lives, humor would play a key role in Rick's recovery. "You go through life laughing or crying," he said. "I choose laughing. Humor is hugely important." Meet three inspiring people who refused to give up or give in when the going got tough.

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