Fishing for purpose

Liz Mitchell / Culpeper Star Exponent
Published: May 23, 2007

Wounded service men and women sometimes stay months in the ward at Walter Reed Army Medical Center receiving treatment for injuries suffered from Humvee rollovers or Improvised Explosive Devices.
Some of the wounded are missing arms or legs, others have severe scarring and limited motion and many experience psychological and emotional trauma as well as physical pain.
Three years ago, Ed Nicholson saw the depression and helplessness in some troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. He decided to take them fly fishing for a day out of the hospital. The outing led to the founding an organization called Project Healing Waters that is now expanding across the country.
On Sunday, 15 wounded veterans participated in a 2-fly tournament that attracted more than 150 people to PHW's first fundraiser generating about $50,000.

SYRIA - In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, John Bass sat on a bank in his wheelchair and fished in the quiet stream at Rose River Farm.

Dressed in camouflaged waders, a ball cap and sunglasses Bass was enjoying the warm day and concentrating on catching a big fish.

Even though he commented on the "dead water," due to its stillness, he had no trouble hooking a fat rainbow trout within seconds of his cast.

Since he has a prosthetic right hand, one of his fishing buddies used a net to bring in his shining fish and then released him back into the stream.

"Because I don't have good finger motion I can't strip the line back to me to emulate a bug getting away from them," Bass said. "It sort of has to dead drift and they get too long to look at it. If you got a lot of rushing water by, he's got to make up his mind in a skinny minute right there whether he's going to take the fly or not."

It was a beautiful warm sunny day at the farm and a nice escape for many wounded veterans from Walter Reed Medical Center.

Bass, who never served in the military, became acquainted with Project Healing Waters three years ago.

The nonprofit organization hosts fishing events for wounded veterans to give them an opportunity to learn the healing sport and escape the confines of their hospital rooms and routine medical treatment.

Bass, of North Carolina, was in Lebanon, Va., the day after Thanksgiving three years ago and met the father of a young marine who had just been buried. He learned of the organization and saw an opportunity to help others who had become disabled - especially American soldiers.

He now visits wounded veterans in North Carolina hospitals as well as Walter Reed to encourage participation in the program.

In 1974, Bass said he Jack Daniels and Budweiser were all together and he jumped off the edge of a swimming pool at 305 pounds and broke his neck.

He's been in a wheelchair ever since.
Bass, 56, was an angler before he became disabled. After his accident he didn't pick the sport back up for 20 years because he wasn't sure how he could fish from a wheelchair. In 1994 he figured it out by finding flat land on a golf course near a riverbank. Three years ago he started helping others to do the same.

"After 30 years in the chair I knew some anglers that it would take them a long time to overcome if somebody didn't help them," he said. "You go in there trying to make them feel good and they make you feel good."

The president's perspective
When Eivind Forseth entered Walter Reed he thought his life was over.

"That was a period of time in my life when I was very angry and very depressed," he said. "I didn't think that I was ever going to get to fly fish again."

While serving as a platoon leader in Iraq, Forseth was hit by a roadside bomb that took out his right side and extensively damaged his right arm. The explosion caused him to lose the use of his hand and maintain only limited use of his elbow.

For a man who grew up in Montana and enjoys fishing and the outdoors, the thought of not being able to fly fish again was devastating.

So when Ed Nicholson, the founder of PHW, approached him about fishing Forseth was hesitant. He reluctantly agreed at the urging of both his commanding officer and mother.

"What it did for me was after I caught that first fish, it made me realize that adaptively I could participate in this sport again," he said. "It brought me back from a really deep, dark place in my recovery and it gave me some hope. It gave me the confidence that I could fly fish again."

As a project coordinator for the organization at Walter Reed, Forseth said the fly fishing tournaments and outings have inspired soldiers to progress in their recovery. It also has built cohesion and friendship among those who participate.

While service men and women might be hesitant to fish for fear of failing because of their new disability, Forseth said with a little coaxing and a new goal they can accomplish it.

"Veterans are very mission oriented so once that becomes their goal, they work very hard and it's very inspirational to watch," he said. "You get a lot of able bodied people who say, 'I can't do that.' Yes you can and you need to try it. And you owe it to those who can't do certain things to try it. Guys and gals like us they push through it and get focused and make it work."
Forseth has been at Walter Reed for 2 ½ years and is finishing paperwork to soon regain his freedom.

As an Army captain he now sees his responsibility lies in helping fellow soldiers returning from war.

Forseth is soon becoming CEO of Project Healing Waters - a position he never expected to fall into when he landed at Walter Reed.

"To me, I am more motivated to help those coming back than I am to train those going in, he said, adding that the Army focuses mostly on recruiting new members and sending them overseas than on helping soldiers recover when they return.

"That's fine to cajole people to go in, or screw them into going. But I want to be here to pick up the pieces, give them a helping hand once they get out. Because I attribute this program to saving my life, I really do."

A soldier's perspective
When Diane Cochran came back to the United States, she couldn't walk, talk or control her arms and legs.

In Afghanistan, she was involved in a blast when her Humvee rolled over, causing serious spinal injuries. She also still has a little shrapnel in her face.

With about two years of treatment at Walter Reed and five fly fishing outings with Project Healing Waters, Cochran says she has built back her arm muscles and regained dexterity in her hands.

While fly fishing doesn't compare to jumping out of helicopters, repelling or running a marathon - all activities Cochran enjoyed - she said she likes the relaxing sport and is able to get physical therapy without even knowing it.

She's even teaching some of her buddies back home online how to fly fish.

Cochran is a property book manager in the U.S. Army and serves the National Guard in Springfield, Ill.

She's getting out of the hospital soon and contemplating a new position with the Army.

She loves her time on the river and says it's great to get away from the hospital.

"Any day on the river is a good day," she said. "It can rain, it can be cold. But if you're out there being one with nature it's a good day and you see that with these guys. … It's the thing that turns the tide for them, 'Hey I can do something. I can have a normal life again.' It's awesome."

Cochran said the hospital is a stressful environment, even on a good day. Normally she gets up, goes to formation, then to physical therapy for two hours, sometimes an extra hour in the pool, then neurosurgery and ophthalmology appointments, then to pain management.

Any day she can escape and relax is nice, she said.
Cochran and her professional guide Kiki Galvin were one of two women-only teams and enjoyed fishing together but they hoped the new veterans found a sense of hope and fun in the event.

"Especially the guys who are extremely traumatically injured, they don't know that life can be as good as it was before," she said. "And you get them out give them a normal day doing something that's fun and you just see a light bulb come on and this whole attitude comes around and they are working harder and happier about it and they can't wait to get back on the river."

Liz Mitchell can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or