Blake Hall
Two nonprofit organizations, both founded to advance the life of military veterans, have made major headway in treating the ailments and disorders that often trouble America’s returning warriors.
Only, they don’t do it on land.
They do it beneath the surf, in seawater.
The Wounded American Veterans Experience SCUBA (WAVES) and Patriots for Disabled Divers (PFDD) shrewdly utilize the storied power of the mighty ocean in providing much-needed therapy to and for vets. WAVES even frees it up, and puts the power, control directly into their hands, by instructing them to scuba pretty much on their own.
According to the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), the salty pastime promotes three things that, they say, can’t be reached standing on a continent.
One is being able to relieve their physical pain by becoming weightless in the water, enabling them to exercise more easily. Two, they claim it’s easier to focus when swimming in a large natural body of water and, three, you’re never not scuba diving with someone else. A buddy. By virtue of doing it you’re being social.
PADI tells the story of United States Marine and Iraq War veteran, Sergeant Juan Gonzales, who alleviated the ugly and debilitating effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by becoming certified as a scuba diver.
It even helped him reconnect with his son, who also certified as an underwater explorer.
“It wasn’t until I came across the WAVES project that I heard more about the therapeutic properties for PTSD, for neuropathy and other types of injuries that veterans have.”
“Diving with my son Marcus has been a great opportunity for us to connect on a personal level that we hadn’t had the opportunity to in the past. When we started diving it opened up a whole new world for us. It’s an opportunity for us to do something that we can share together, that we can develop together because we have trust in each other more and we understand the necessity that we take care of each other while we’re diving and what being a dive buddy is about.”
“It’s something I’m very, very grateful for.”
For more information on WAVES, click here. For more on PFDD, click here.