Riding—Not Hiding

Injured and disabled U.S. veterans, some of the most respected and honored Americans, may not live the same life they led before going to war. But with the availability of home medical equipment and education, thanks to a $1.68 billion budget allocated for the prosthetics department from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, the trauma of an enrolled veteran’s life-changing injury can be eased.

One way to inform disabled vets of their opportunity to receive HME comes at the National Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, held every year in Snowmass Village, Colo. Event organizers, the VA and Disabled American Veterans, invite military service veterans with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, orthopedic amputations, visual impairments and other disabilities.

For many newly injured veterans, the clinic offers their first experience in winter sports and gives them the inspiration to take their rehabilitation to a higher level.

Neal Eckrich, acting COO of Veteran Affairs Prosthetic and Sensory Aid Service, says at this year’s event, the 23rd, the message was well-received. “We’re here educating vets and clinicians about what equipment is available to them. If a vet needs it, they get it. It should be liberating.”

After careful evaluation by therapists and clinicians of what rehabilitation and/or equipment is needed, the vets are provided with equipment that “makes them have the best life possible,” says Eckrich. The VA service provides “anything that goes home,” including everything from wheelchairs to kitchen utensils, he explains. “There is no restriction on what and how much we provide.”

The service helped roughly 1.2 million veterans last year, including Iraqi Freedom Army veteran Joey Bozik, 30, from Fuquay Varina, N.C. Bozik is a triple amputee, and attended the sports clinic for the fourth time this year. Even though at home he uses power and manual wheelchairs and prosthetics, he was able to enjoy himself in Snowmass. “There are people with several disabilities here, and it’s a great opportunity for people to find out [about] and see what other home medical equipment people have and use,” Bozik says.

At home, Bozik says it’s his equipment that makes him ambulatory and allows him to do something else he loves — play golf.

Eckrich notes such activities add independence and enrich the vets’ lives. “We see our equipment increase physical health, but also mental health. It’s about getting out with family, friends and participating.”

Satisfying a veteran may be the best reward. “We get two reactions. One is gratitude; they know what they are getting, and they are thankful,” Eckrich says. “Others are surprised. Many vets who are not enrolled in the VA have a bad misconception about what we provide. They think they will get a bare-bones product, not something that is top-of-the-line.

“But once they see us at events like this, and they see we provide the best equipment around, they think, ‘Maybe I should enroll after all.’”

Visit the National Veterans Winter Sports Clinic Web site for more information.