Many military servicemembers sustain injuries during combat that leave them disabled in one way or another. These veterans may struggle to accept that their life after service will be much less active than before. Yet, the Veterans Adaptive Sports program is offering these disabled vets an opportunity to continue participating in the sports and activities they love. This organization strives to help rehabilitate former servicemembers with injuries to the spinal cord, visual and hearing impairments, amputations and neurological disorders.
Dave Tuttle, a coach with Veterans Adaptive Sports, told WPTV News, "Our main objective is to get disabled veterans to plug back into recreational activities that they're a little apprehensive to get started in."
Tuttle and other coaches assist the disabled veterans with activities like scuba diving and skiing. Tuttle credits the success of the program to advances in technology. He said that in previous decades, the wounded veterans would be confined to games like checkers and cards. However, technological advances have provided them with the equipment necessary to make it possible for them to participate in these action-heavy activities.
The Veterans Adaptive Sports program is meant to give disabled veterans back the confidence they once had and help them find joy in their new situations.