It’s Important—

What Can We Do For Disabled Veterans?

By Kendra Bobowick

The Bee series It’s Important includes a brief interview and video revealing — one person and one idea at a time — what is important to you. Be part of It’s Important. Contact Kendra at 426-3141 or reach her at Kendra@thebee.com.

Who: Joel Zeisler, Sandy Hook-based Leaps of Faith Disabled Waterskiers Club president. The group is a nonprofit organization specializing in training water-skiers with disabilities.

What is important to him: Making an effort to support veterans who have suffered injury and disability. The Leaps of Faith cohosted a Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project in August, inviting service members who experienced a disability while serving in the military. The Wounded Warrior Project is, according to its website, “to honor and empower wounded warriors.”

“Every skier we teach has a story,” Mr Zeisler said. With his feet propped on the bench before him and Lake Zoar rippling in the background, Mr Zeisler considered the recent Wounded Warriors Program that the Leaps of Faith organization had, in part, hosted in August. “We took soldiers — 80 percent who have combat-related disabilities — and showed them they could still do something, anything …”

Some of the wounded veterans had never water-skied before and once up on the water, “They felt they could do anything,” Mr Zeisler said. “The freedom on the water compared to other activities made them feel alive,” he said, based on his own observations either skiing tandem beside them, driving the boat, or helping them into their ski gear. Some soldiers may be dealing with post-traumatic stress, he noted, which can “haunt them anytime.”

Volunteers work with each skier “to see if there are fears and gauge ability — are they comfortable in the water?”

Last week as his dock rocked in a speedboat’s wake and the engine sounds faded, Mr Zeisler remembered a few soldiers from the recent Wounded Warrior Project that left their impressions.

One young woman who had been in Iraq had been shot, received several surgeries, and suffered brain trauma. She now has seizures. Mr Zeisler said about her, “Her spirit couldn’t be any better.” She was an excellent athlete, he said, “She picked up water-skiing for the first time as quickly as anybody without a disability.”

Skiing despite muscle atrophy, another soldier had been paralyzed on one side of his body, making his speech awkward. “But, he skied, he smiled, he hugged us — that stands out.” Mr Zeisler added, “He had a personality that could light up a room.”

Another veteran was missing both his hands, one at the wrist and another below the elbow. “He had trouble getting up,” Mr Zeisler recalls, but once he did, he was fine. “He was holding on [to the tow rope] with the insides of his elbows and probably skied better than most of us.” As an instructor, Mr Zeisler feels good about the accomplishments. “Sometimes I don’t get to really look back, but individuals, when they leave and say, ‘It was the best time I have had in such a long time,’ it’s significant.”

One young woman confined to a power wheelchair had arrived with her grandfather. “He told me at the end, ‘This is the best time I have seen my granddaughter have since she lost her mother.’ The way he said it with tears in his eyes, made the day worthwhile. I passed the story to the volunteers and shared that.” Each Leaps of Faith clinic is run by a core group of skilled volunteers.

Mr Zeisler gives the soldiers his time and effort. Is it important? “I guess important is the right word. I have been in the service, fortunately not in combat — these soldiers right now, while we do this interview — are being shot at … a lot of us just do not think about it during the day, so when they come back injured, if we can spend time and do a little extra — important is a good word.” Mr Zeisler ended, “We can do what we can, share what we have.”