The fly fishers on the dock at Parky’s Farm in Winton Woods concentrate on the quiet task before them. Cast the line, wait and watch. They’ve spent days making and tying their flies, concentrating away hand tremors that are daily reminders of PTSD and traumatic brain injury. Today, they engage larger muscle groups. They reach and stretch as they throw out the line.
While they remember all they learned from the local Project Healing Waters teachers and mentors, the trip is also about forgetting. Forgetting memories of battles in Iraq and Vietnam, forgetting the frustrations of living with Lou Gehrig’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis.
“When they fish, they are outdoors, away from crowds and some of the things that bother the PTSD guys the most,” says Tom Scheer, 70, who founded the local Project Healing Waters group two years ago.
An avid fly fisher, the Air Force veteran and retired dentist stumbled across the national
Project Healing Waters online while looking for his own resources. He immediately understood how fly fishing might benefit veterans in the healing process. “After being in the stream and listening to the song of the stream, it’s just pretty magical,” he says.
While the local group, which consists of about nine regular members, doesn’t make it to a stream that often, there are other nearby opportunities that provide them with chances to be in nature and practice new skills while they both concentrate and relax. “You can work seriously at it,” says Scheer. “They really are into it. And you can see that it’s got to be good for them.”
He tells about an Iraqi vet, injured during his fifth tour of duty, whose wife tells the story of how his PTSD has changed their family. At the lake, he stands far from the rest of the vets and fishes, his nerves calmed. And the vet with Lou Gehrig’s disease, who leans against a pole at Parky’s Farm, pulls in a fish and says in a wavering voice, “This is my therapy.”
The sessions are a bit of therapy for Scheer, too. After leaving a busy dental practice, he faced an empty calendar. “It wasn’t very fun,” he says with a laugh. His desire to teach took an unexpected turn with Project Healing Waters, but it’s a turn he doesn’t regret.
“I get way more back than I put in,” he says of the 24 annual sessions with the group of veterans. “Instead of sitting at home, I have a reason to get up. It’s wonderful.”
Do Good:
• Share this story with a vet. Interested parties can contact
Tom Scheer to join the group.
• Donate gently used rods for the group’s “rental” program. Vets pay nothing to be a part of the group, so every bit of support helps. Email
Scheer for more information.
• Volunteer to be a mentor to a vet. If you are a fly fisher and can help out a few hours a month, consider joining the ranks. Contact
Scheer for details.
By Elissa Yancey/Follow Elissa on Twitter
Photo by D. Brent Miller
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.