When Joe Mornini and Mike McCormick decided to teach a few veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center their favorite sport, they had no idea it would turn into a nation-wide movement that literally has changed the lives of more than 1,000 warriors.
Mornini spent his spring break on St. John last week, not resting on the beach, but working tirelessly to smooth out details for Team River Runner’s next trip to Love City.
Mornini, who is a full-time teacher of at-risk students in the Washington, D.C. area, is the executive director of Team River Runner, which teaches adaptive kayaking to wounded veterans. When he launched the program at Walter Reed in 2004, Mornini had no idea it would grow so vastly and turn into his second full-time, albeit barely paid, job.
“Mike was on the U.S. White Water team and he knew everyone in the kayaking world at that high level,” said Mornini. “I had been paddling myself and instructing kayak for 20 years in the D.C. area. Back in 2004 there were all these wounded veterans coming to Walter Reed and there were so many of those men and women missing legs and arms.”
“We knew we could outfit a boat and get them out and mobile again,” Mornini said. “At first we just thought we’d go down there and teach four or five guys how to kayak and then maybe go back and teach another four or five guys. I had no idea then that we had a recreational therapeutic activity, that I really believe in my heart, is a sport that will make these guys’ lives different.”
Mornini and McCormick created the only adaptive hard shell white water kayak capable of being used by seriously disabled people.
Even if they were optimistic, it would have been difficult to imagine the impacts adaptive kayaking would have on the men and women who climbed in Team River Runner’s (TRR) boats.
Today there are TRR chapters at 25 veterans’ medical centers across the country — two of which are run by wounded veterans who went through the program themselves — and has touched the lives of more than 1,000 wounded veterans.
“The wounded warriors who we were working with were leaving and going home and we started developing grassroots volunteer chapters all over the country,” said Mornini. “We have requests every week for new chapters to open up. We have a very well-meaning and well-connected board of directors and several thousand volunteers across the country.”
TRR’s accomplishments have come thanks to thousands of volunteers and only two part-time paid employees, one of which is Mornini himself.
TRR has found that kayaking is the perfect therapy for soldiers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury.
“It’s really made to order for PTSD people who have been combat veterans,” said Mornini. “One veteran told me white water kayaking was the first thing that replicated the experience of being in combat because it comes at you fast, there is a sense of danger, you can train to get better and it’s non-stop.”
“There is fear, speed and adventure and it’s all about that adrenaline rush,” he said.
Veterans who suffer from Traumatic Brain Injuries, usually the result of roadside bombs, find kayaking to help their balance and vertigo issues, Mornini explained.
“For guys with Traumatic Brain Injuries kayaking helps them focus, it’s good for their sequential teak memory and helps with balance issues,” he said. “These guys feel like they’re in a boat and putting them in boats is exactly what you want to do for that.”
While Mornini has been the benefits of kayaking from countless veterans, the therapeutic importance has been attested to by clinicians as well, the TRR executive director added.
“Anyone can kayak,” Mornini said. “It’s cheap and all you need is a boat and water. It’s social, you can network with other kayakers, but it’s still an independent sport.”
“If someone is blind they can kayak in a double or someone can go in their own boat and hit white water rapids in the Grand Canyon,” he continued. “There are just so many possibilities.”
Looking ahead, Mornini hopes to see more veteran coordinated chapters.
“Our goal is for these guys to have a lifestyle of activity,” he said. “We’d also like these guys to take on the leadership and pay forward what they learned. We really want to actually start highlighting the physical and mental therapeutic abilities of kayaking and expand our national clinics.”
After veterans complete their initial pool training, they attend one of seven clinics in Colorado, Florida, Montana, Mexico, Virgin Islands and Grand Canyon National Park for white water rapids or sea kayak adventures.
The group has brought warriors to Love City twice for kayak adventures and is planning a third and possibly fourth trip in November — if they raise enough funding.
“We’re trying to do two sessions, but it really depends on funding,” said Mornini. “We’ll definitely have one group down and if we raise more funds we can bring the second group.”
Mornini knows first hand the bitter disappointment that a lack of funds can have on the group.
“The hardest thing I had to do was cancel a trip down here,” he said. “It was horrible having to tell 10 wounded veterans that we weren’t going to be able to afford the trip.”
Since then several St. John residents have raised money for the group and TRR continues to accept donations, which are 100 percent tax deductible.
TRR stays at Cinnamon Bay Campground and enjoyed complimentary use of kayaks from Cinnamon Bay Watersports and Crabby’s Watersports. Many local restaurants including Woody’s and Skinny Legs also donate meals for the group during their St. John stays.
“We need funding, that is number one,” said Mornini. “But I also want people to come down to Cinnamon Bay and have lunch with us and go kayaking with us.”
For additional information or to make a donation to TRR check out the group’s web site at www.teamriverrunner.org.
