Paralympians teach Army how to use adaptive sports as therapy for injured vets

From The AP:

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — U.S. Paralympic athletes are teaching the Army how to use adaptive sports such as swimming and sitting volleyball as mental and physical therapy for soldiers recovering from severe injuries.

The athletes gathered at Fort Campbell this week to teach staff members of the Army's Warrior Transition Units from around the region how to get their soldiers involved in sports.

Sports such as wheelchair basketball or sled hockey get blood pumping and muscles loosened up, but soldiers and athletes say an equal benefit is regaining confidence after a life-changing injury or combat wound.

Rico Roman, a 29-year-old retired Army staff sergeant, had his left leg amputated after his Humvee hit an improvised explosive device in Iraq. He is now a member of the U.S. Paralympics sled hockey team and coordinates sports and events for troops recovering from injuries at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

Roman was seated poolside at the Hopkinsville High School indoor pool Wednesday, where other Paralympic athletes were demonstrating water sports for Army staffers who work with injured soldiers, such as occupational therapists, squad leaders and noncommissioned officers.

Joining a team sport like sled hockey is more than just simple exercise, he said.

"It's bringing that camaraderie back," he said "It's like we're back in our old platoons or units."

In the pool, three Fort Campbell soldiers donned scuba gear to show how the water can help troops who are returning with musculoskeletal injuries such as neck or knee injuries.

"Being underwater relaxes you and you're able to feel your joints loosen a little bit," said Army Spc. Matt Wolf, 24. "It just takes your mind off the pain that is there."

Wolf said that after suffering a neck injury and a traumatic brain injury, he felt like he was missing out on activities he once enjoyed. But then he found a scuba diving program, which didn't hurt his neck, affording him a new challenge as he prepares to leave the Army.

"It's great for a reminder that you are still able to overcome things even though you are hurt in a certain way or have certain disabilities," he said. "Going from being a warfighter to not being able to do that anymore is really demoralizing sometimes."

Katie Holloway, a member of U.S. sitting volleyball team, spent an afternoon at a Fort Campbell gym showing how to serve the ball while seated and how to slide around on the court to return the ball.

She's done a number of camps, training programs and other activities designed to teach adaptive sports to troops.

"When I get the opportunity to come out and do these events, I love it," she said.

Holloway said the outreach between the military and the U.S. Paralympic Committee helps veterans establish connections within their communities and raises public interest in adaptive sports in general.

"The result of all of the activity is just a healthier, happier lifestyle," she said.

When she went to Beijing to compete in 2008 Paralympics, she knew of at least five service members competing on the American teams. And through programs like this one at Fort Campbell, she's seeing more veterans hoping to represent their country again as athletes in the 2012 London games.

"There's a lot of new injured service members on these Paralympic teams now," she said.

Lauren Geddis, an occupational therapist at Fort Campbell, said she assigns wounded soldiers to adaptive sports including golf or yoga because it's an effective treatment for the mental health issues that sometimes accompany physical injuries.

"When you put them into an environment where everyone is equal ... they start to relate, they start to communicate and open up more and have fun more," Geddis said.