Jackson’s Gap, Ala. – Joshua Stein grew up in the water, swimming, diving and spearfishing at his native island of Saipan in the Pacific Ocean.
Now, he is learning to water ski without his legs, which were blown off when a roadside bomb hit a Bradley Fighting Vehicle the Army private was driving.
With help, Stein straps his scarred body into a cradle fitted on a single wide ski. Then, he grasps the tow rope with a right arm covered with skin grafts and rises out of the water, grinning and giving a thumbs- up with his mangled left arm.
Similar military and civilian outdoor programs have quietly sprung up nationwide for disabled vets such as Stein, using the challenges and sheer fun of recreation to move them toward resuming their lives.
Last weekend, 25 disabled veterans were at Lake Martin in eastern Alabama for Operation Adventure, a sports program put on by the Birmingham-based Lakeshore Foundation at Camp ASCCA.
Like Operation Adventure, many of these efforts to help severely injured vets are sponsored by the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project, a partnership between Disabled Sports USA and the Wounded Warrior Project. The program is in 25 states and growing.
Outdoor sports are important for disabled veterans trying to move on to a new phase of life, says Kirk Bauer, the executive director of Disabled Sports USA.
