First National Veterans Sports Clinic convenes in San Diego

From the San Diego Union-Tribune Sept. 27:

Former Camp Pendleton Marine Andy Robinson (pictured) is one of about 60 wounded combat veterans converging in San Diego County to run, row, bike and sail in the inaugural National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic.

The week-long event started Sept. 28 with the opening ceremony at SeaWorld, and then the athletes will fan out to five sites across the region for their public sessions.

The pilot program is based on research showing that athletics can help patients recover more effectively by encouraging them to socialize with others, work toward clear goals and feel a sense of accomplishment when those targets are met.

About a third of the participating veterans, whose injuries range from paralysis to post-traumatic stress disorder, live in San Diego County.

Robinson, who became paralyzed from the chest down after a roadside bomb in Iraq severed his spinal cord, is interested in the water sports – albeit with some trepidation.

“It's a little bit scary because I haven't been in the water since my injury. But I want to try new things to see what I can do,” said Robinson, 25, who was wounded on June 20, 2006. Three of his combat buddies died in the explosion.

Robinson said he gained inspiration from a patient he met while undergoing treatment at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Tampa, Fla. The man, paralyzed from the neck down, kept using his breath to blow puffs of air.

“I told the nurse, 'It would suck being him because he can't do anything.' She told me the guy sails a boat using little puffs of air,” Robinson said. “That's when I changed my idea about what guys with injuries were capable of doing.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs is spending about $153,000 on the sports clinic.
The organizers want to challenge veterans' bodies and minds to overcome damage caused by combat in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere. They said the injured athletes aren't looking for competition as much as a spark to illuminate a new life.

The VA has sponsored adaptive and therapeutic sports programs since 1981, when it held its first wheelchair games for disabled veterans. The agency launched its winter sports clinic in 1987, but did not create a summertime counterpart until this year.

Today, VA athletic programs give about 1,800 disabled veterans per year the chance to learn or play various sports. These veterans have recently suffered amputations, traumatic brain injuries, serious burns, psychological trauma, visual impairment, spinal cord injuries and other disabilities.

VA officials chose San Diego County for the clinic because of the region's mild weather and array of sports locations. They will use sites such as the Mission Bay Yacht Club in San Diego and the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista to offer training in sailing, kayaking, surfing, cycling, and track and field.

Dan Jones, local coordinator of the clinic, said he hopes people will turn out in large numbers to support the veterans.

“They are trying to get back into school and cope with their injuries and illness,” Jones said. “Through sports, they'll gain confidence and skills for success and a better quality of life.”

As a counterintelligence specialist in Iraq, Robinson was gathering information on insurgents who planted roadside bombs when one of those explosives blew up his Humvee.

The attack left him with broken legs and ribs, collapsed lungs and a fractured vertebra. He is paralyzed from the chest down, but can use his arms well enough to power a recumbent bike.

“I'm trying to push my new body to the limit . . . and do more then I ever would have before my injury,” Robinson wrote on his MySpace page. “I do it for the guys that didn't come home.”