Injured vets go fishing

SUN VALLEY, Idaho — Standing at the edge of a clear pond in the Idaho mountains on a cold day in early October, former U.S. Marine Angel Gomez made a timid cast with his fly fishing rod.

The surface rippled under a sweeping wind. The line as thin as dental floss billowed down to the water, the hooked fly slapping the surface first. A weathered American flag flapped against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains.

Mr. Gomez was on his second deployment to Iraq in 2005 when the 7-ton truck he was driving was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED). A piece of shrapnel, about the size of a quarter, struck Mr. Gomez in the head and penetrated his skull, leaving him with traumatic brain injury.

Now 24, he came home unable to read or write, without any sensation on the right side of his body, a half-moon shaped scar carved into the side of his head.

He had to relearn everything.

And here he was on this frigid day, attempting to coordinate mind and body, casting line after line out into the water as part of a Sun Valley Adaptive Sports program designed to help wounded service members rebuild their physical skills, rediscover their confidence and independence, and reintegrate into their communities through sports and recreation.

The weeklong fly fishing program is one of eight sports and recreation camps held each year in this central Idaho resort region for wounded service members. This fall, the fly fishing camp was designed for veterans with severe traumatic brain injury.

The men carry postwar burdens that include chronic headaches, post-traumatic stress disorder, hearing and short-term memory loss, renal failure, seizures and spinal injuries.

At a private estate along State Highway 75, the seven men embarked on their first day of fishing, practicing awkward casts in the grass before their fishing guides deemed them ready.

Two of the veterans at the pond are in wheelchairs, some use canes. Knit caps are eventually removed, revealing scars and offering a small glimpse into the turmoil these men and their families have undergone.

Lisa Antoine sat underneath a tree, grinning at her husband David, an Army reservist who was called up in 2007, as he worked his fly line. In February, she received in the middle of the night a phone call telling her that her husband’s military vehicle had been hit by a roadside bomb, and that he had suffered nerve damage to his back and neck.

Now 44, he continues to suffer from headaches, photosensitivity, blurred vision and severe hearing loss. Mr. Antoine also struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“He still can’t deal with it,” said Mrs. Antoine, 44, a certified nursing assistant who has watched her formerly outgoing husband withdraw since he came home. “He doesn’t like to go anywhere, I have to drag him.”

Her hope for the fly fishing camp is that it will inspire her husband to realize “you don’t have to be secluded from everybody.” She then leaped to her feet as her husband reeled in a trout.

She squealed in delight, screaming, “Go get it, honey! Go get it!”

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