This was written by someone on the KyaakbassFishing.com site. Thought everyone would appreciate it. Gives a little insight into the folks we help and have fun with –
No, this ISN'T addressed to the kayakfishermen who founded and participate in the "Heroes On The Water" program. Those guys have set the bar incredibly high for all of us, and have earned my utmost respect. But this isn't about them.
This letter is addressed to YOU---the fallen warrior who is out there somewhere, in a bed or a wheelchair or a Stokes frame, or trembling with effort as you try to pull yourself along those rails, or trapped inside the neverending nightmare of Traumatic Brain Injury.
I'm going to speak from experience here, little brother. My time on the line came long ago, in another unpopular war in another troubled time. Unlike you, I walked away without much damage---physically, anyway. But eight years ago last month, I got a REAL good taste of what many of you are going through now.
I got between an amped-out escaping mental patient and a little old lady, and I got (according to witnesses) just about every square inch of my head used for a soccer ball for just under three minutes. I got the helicopter ride, and the brain surgery, and two heart attacks on the table, and then my lungs gave out, and the only way they could save me was to induce a coma and warehouse me up on the ninth floor. And when I finally did come to, I was a monster and a spaz and a mutilated gimp. And the doctors told my family that I had a five-percent chance of living even a year.
But you already know about that stuff. And you probably know about all that crap they (mercifully) tell our families about comas, and that you're weren't in a tunnel of light, or a place that smelled like Mom's warm cookies, or on the happy rainbow butterfly planet.
And, if you're reading this, by now you know ALL about Pain-with-a-P. And doubt. And despair. And looking in the mirror and seeing Frankenstein staring back. Or opening your mouth and hearing only the wrong words coming out. Or about not laughing---or even smiling---for a long, long time.
And now some certifiable maniac is suggesting to your doctors that they put you into a kayak(!) with fishing rods and sharp hooks, with limbs gone or not working, or your own brain betraying you every chance it gets. Maybe you're worried that you will look odd or foolish to others (you won't), or that you will make mistakes (you will, and none of us will give a tinker's dad'gum or a second glance, because that's how WE learned).
Maybe you think you can't cut it anymore. Really? You've been through TWO Hells now, the Hell of recovery, and the one that put you there. You had the BOXCAR-sized stones to step up and take one for your country in some godforsaken dungheap---and, God love you for it, you STILL probably blush or get all flustered anytime someone refers to you as a hero.
Kayakfishing isn't Jesus. It won't sprout a new limb out of that stump, it won't make you look like Brad Pitt or dance like Fred Astaire, and it sure as hell won't make the many ungrateful low-lifes in our society even give you the time of day. I don't know what it will do for your body or your brain.
But what it WILL do is SHOW you---right down in the center of your heart, in the very core of your being---that the world is NOT all cordite and torn flesh, or needles and bandages, or the long anguish of clawing your way back, or watching others carefully avert their eyes, or going through the rest of your life feeling like an X in a world full of O's.
The world is also the dappled sunlight of a quiet cove. It's the heart-stopping awe of a great blue heron or an osprey whispering by just above your head. It's plunging your hand into the cool, clean water of an ageless river and literally feeling its tirelessly beating pulse. It's the heart-hammer of a hookup, the happy shouts of "Fish ON!" from your true brothers, the little shudder of joy that goes through your spirit when you catch-and-release, knowing that you have protected a fragile treasure for yet another generation.
DO IT, brother! GO with those guys! They're all just like you---they're crazier than Larry, Curly and Moe, they're harder to kill than Dracula, they've got absolutely NO quit in them at all, and many of them haven't got enough unscarred hide left to make a decent wallet. And they'll show you how to take a big, honkin' bite out of life and let the juice run down your chin, and laugh like a drunken monkey the whole time you're doing it.
Your brother,
Clinton S. Tyree
brian1976:
"Danglin" in Sac-town is comming onboard!! :smt003 send him some love when you can :smt007
Danglin:
Hey Brian, :smt006
Thanks for keeping the Fire Burning...
--- Quote ---in Sac-town --- End quote ---
I work in Sac, live in the East Bay, which is perfect for getting to all the VA's and such to present this program when were ready....
I've been in touch with Jim Dolan, I have the info on getting this going....
It's alot, and going to take some time on our end and in No Way is a Solo Effort!!!
Were going to need Licensed and Insured Guides / Volunteers, yaks, transportation, Fishing Gear, tax Ids, bank accounts etc.. etc..,
We will have help from the National Director of the program in Texas, Jim Dolan,
and the Kayak Anglers Society of America, but eventually, this is our baby...
This will probably start off small to begin with, but with our region and our Great Crew here at NCKA,
I see this getting Big and Being a Huge success...... :smt004 :smt004 :smt004 :smt004 :smt004
Like I said before, it's going to take a while to get a chapter going here in the Greater Bay Area, lots of details in the pudding, but I'm on it, so Brian...
If your able to get a event going sooner, let us know how to help, or if we have to wait until we get a chapter going...
Here is a little more info on the program and it's Merits......
Heroes on the Water Quotes and Pictures
We see the benefits over and over to the injured folks. The rehabilitation aspect was an unintended consequence of helping the injured service members. Our “AHA!” moment happened in December 2007. We had a soldier with major TBI. He stuttered, would not talk to us and wanted to be left alone. He did not initially want to get in a kayak. We put him on the water for four hours by himself. When we were helping him out, we asked how his morning was. For 30 seconds he was jabbering away, talking about how great kayaking was, he caught 5 fish, and really enjoyed the time on the water. Then, he … and us, realized he was talking normal. He went back to stuttering, but relayed to us that that was the first time in two years he “was able to talk normally.” He said” Now I know I can do it. Now I have hope”. It was at that point we realized that what we were doing was more than just kayak fishing. His picture is below. And this is a guy who was afraid to get in a kayak.
The quotes below are from participants, Parents, Recreation Therapist and Warrior Transition Battalion Cadre members. We have experienced over and over the change in attitude, coming out of a shell, and joining in the camaraderie and banter. ******
Rosalinda Babin of Round Rock has spent six years helping her son, Alan Babin, Jr., overcome gunshot wounds suffered during an 82nd Airborne Division battle. Babin sustained injuries to his liver and diaphragm, lost his spleen, 90 percent of his stomach and part of his pancreas. Six weeks later, he contracted meningitis at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and suffered a stroke. Complications from the stroke have been the hardest to overcome, said his mother. When they attended an HOW event, Rosalinda Babin was moved by the poignant image of empty wheelchairs lining the launch site, abandoned in favor of kayaks. “Looking out onto the lake, there was no way to differentiate between the able bodied and the disabled heroes—a huge therapeutic moment for the parent of a wounded warrior. Traditional therapy involves the same set of rules and activity for all, with similar results expected. HOW allows a pleasurable activity to bring therapeutic results to each participant in different forms.”
Though they had the run of a 10-acre lake, Marines Aiken and Preston wound up fishing side by side, a pattern that Dolan has seen repeated on numerous occasions. “The opportunity to gather with our brothers-in-arms in a setting that’s engaging, yet relaxing is fantastic,” said Aiken, who had attended other HOW events. “I’m not a licensed therapist but I’ve seen a lot of them. Few have prescribed an activity like this as therapy but I assure you that it’s more effective than most of the therapy I’ve received.” To Aiken, who is forming a nationwide U.S. Marine Corps Chamber of Commerce, having an organized activity involving other veterans is a good transitional activity for men and women reconnecting with society. “During service, and particularly on deployment, military personnel operate as a team,” he said. “Transition is reverse culture shock. Most veterans groups focus their attention inward or to the past. HOW focuses on an activity and most young warriors in transition would rather do something other than swapping war stories around a bar. With HOW, we’re swapping stories across a pond, without the hangover.”
Heather Gardner is a recreational therapist at the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center. Her specialty is adaptive sports with ties to the U.S. Paralympics. Gardner defines recreational therapy as a way of distracting one’s mind from the toll the body may be taking on and diverting it to something that is pleasing to the mind, body, soul, or a combination of those aspects. Gardner is not at all surprised at therapeutic breakthrough anecdotes related to kayak fishing. She’s led several groups on HOW outings. The first involved wounded warriors who were missing both legs above the knees. The majority of those participants said they wanted to fish but not kayak. A few wanted to kayak but not fish. Within 20 minutes, with no encouragement from anyone, said Gardner, everyone of them was in a kayak with a fishing rod in their hands. How does Gardner assess the therapeutic value of that experience? “I’m sure it was different for each participant,” she said. “Getting away from the hospital and a daily routine can be therapeutic. Putting them in a boat where they are the sole controller can be therapeutic. Doing an activity that is not physically challenging and entirely in their control can be therapeutic. “I will never forget one of the kids we took fishing on the coast,” said Jim Dolan, HOW’s national coordinator. “He was totally lost in whatever had happened to him in the Middle East and, when he responded to our questions, his responses usually consisted of one word. “The first fish that he caught resulted in a big grin. Forty eight hours and several fish later, he was looking us in the eye and speaking in three or four word sentences. We didn’t cure that kid but we put a crack in the shell where he was able to see something other than his own problems.”
Military doctors are reluctant to discuss recovering veterans but HOW volunteers have been told that kayak fishing may have the same impact on soldiers suffering traumatic brain injuries as horseback riding has on autistic children. Besides, says U.S. Army Major Cody Roberson, there’s an undeniable restorative power in nature. Roberson helped found HOW in 2007, then turned the program over to Dolan when Roberson was deployed to Iraq. Now stationed in San Antonio, Roberson is president and founder of Army Bass Angler, a pro fishing team of active duty soldiers. “The HOW program relies on Mother Nature to do what she’s been doing for a long time,” said Roberson. “I’ve seen it repeatedly. When injured vets show up for an HOW event, they don’t want to talk about their injuries. You put them in a kayak—get ‘em concentrating on paddling the boat, positioning the boat and making the cast and, next thing you know, they’re talking.”
From a Warrior Transition Battalion Commander – “This is one of the best programs I have seen for our Soldiers. It is therapeutic, inexpensive, easily transportable, you catch fish, on and on.... We are close to a lot of water around here and I would like to see more Soldiers take part” **** 2 Oct 2009 – “Jim, I helped out with the HOW event at Medina Lake last Friday. This last event opened my eyes and you can count on me for up coming HOW events. I didn't know what to expect but I'm glad I got involved. The conversations I had with these warriors did my heart good. Great bunch of guys and gals in the service!!!!
One on the guys at this event paddled a canoe back home but now has no fingers on either hand. He said "Tape the paddles to me, I'm going out there one way or another!!!!!!" When he can back in he said, "Best day ever of rehab!!!!"
Travis Meier ”
Project Goal -- Reintegrating wounded military personnel back into their families and the civilian world and enhancing their physical and emotional rehabilitation. We do not have the solution for every soldier. HOW exposes as many as possible in hope that our brand of therapeutic recreation will help.
From a BAMC injured soldier – We were in a meeting at the Center for the Intrepid at BAMC the 2nd week of October discussing a 10 week, one day a week program for the folks at BAMC. One of the soldier called what we do “Triple Therapy” or “all at once Therapy.” On post, he has to go to the Gym for physical Therapy, then go upstairs for his occupational therapy, and then go to the Psychiatrist for mental therapy. With kayak fishing he gets it all at once. He gets physical therapy from paddling and fishing, occupational therapy because he is learning a lifetime sport/activity, and mental because of the total concentration on himself and relaxing in nature with no distractions or expectations of performance.
Sailfish:
Thanks Brian for the post and Don for getting thing going. Let's know if anything we can do to help/participate.