Running with purpose

As Americans enjoy the unofficial start of summer around Memorial Day, a 17-member team of active and retired military servicemen and civilians, known as the Shepherd’s Men, will complete a 108-mile run across eight cities to raise funds as well as awareness about suicide prevention and treatment options for veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The Shepherd’s Men will run a half marathon for eight consecutive days while wearing 22-pound flak jackets, symbolizing the number of deaths by suicide of veterans every day. This year’s fourth annual run, which kicked off May 22 and will last through Memorial Day, began at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa., to honor the courageous civilians who gave their lives on 9/11. Other stops on the group’s itinerary include:

• Washington, D.C., on May 23;

• Lynchburg, Va., on May 24;

• Raleigh, N.C., on May 25;

• Asheville, N.C., on May 26;

• Nashville, Tenn., on May 27;

• Athens, Ga., on May 28; and

• Atlanta, Ga., on May 29 where the Shepherd Center is located.

Shepherd’s Men co-founder and Georgia native Travis Ellis said the group is known for running thousands of long, grueling distances to embody the mental and physical hardships that many veterans have endured through service.

Ellis’s admiration, profound respect and dedication to veterans began when he was a kid. Having heard stories of humility, selflessness and bravery from his grandfather, who served in World War II, Ellis said he wanted to make a lasting difference in the lives of veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

“Our mission is to do three things,” said Ellis. “First of all, to identify and save lives. Secondly, to positively affect and influence generations. And lastly, we want to fill in some of those gaps in the current system as it’s constructed today.”

Shepherd’s Men goal is to raise $2.2 million in funds for TBI/PTSD research and treatment, all of which will support a nationally acclaimed program called the SHARE Military Initiative. This 12-week, comprehensive rehabilitation program, has transformed the lives of more than 300 veterans and families by providing free treatment for post-9/11 veterans who have sustained mild to moderate TBI and PTSD.

Ellis said private funding is essential to make SHARE’s life-saving program available to post-9/11 veterans in need. “One hundred percent of all proceeds (from the run) go toward the SHARE Military Initiative at Shepherd Center,” Ellis said. “What’s so great about our (support from) The American Legion is that when we first started this concept, we had no clue what we were doing. So we blindly reached out to various Legion posts and they were very gracious and kind in embracing our mission. Over the course of three years, we’ve raised $1.4 million and 100 percent of that has gone to SHARE, allowing those dollars to serve and treat these post-9/11 veterans who are in need.”

The Shepherd Center, founded in 1975, is a private, nonprofit hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with a spinal cord injury or brain injury. The 152-bed facility is ranked among the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, according to the organization’s website.

SHARE offers a broad continuum of care, specifically tailored to meet the needs of each veteran including:

• housing;

• physical, occupational, vocational and speech therapies;

• life coaching;

• therapeutic recreation;

• legal, financial and psychological counseling;

• medical care;

• pain management; and

• other specialized services.

Furthermore, the website also noted that “all activities are housed in one centralized location, with complimentary on-site housing available, and conducted by the same medical and rehabilitation team so that all aspects of a client’s care work collaboratively.” Case managers, who are assigned to SHARE graduates, work with the clients in their home communities and follow their progress post-discharge to ensure they are meeting their goals, as well as having the resources needed to continue their road to recovery.

“The biggest success would be having a former soldier see our effort on the news, two years ago,” Ellis said. “This gentleman had a bullet lodged in his back. The first thing Shepherd Center did was remove that bullet which relieved a lot of his physical pain. He was then able to concentrate on getting well in so many other areas. When this gentleman graduated, both he and his wife stood up and looked directly at me and said, ‘Thank you. You saved our life and you saved our family.’ You can’t put value on that so I’m not sure if there’s anything that compares to directly impacting human lives.”

For post-9/11 veterans like retired Army Staff Sgt. Jarrad Turner, SHARE changed his life.

Turner, a 42-year-old who was medically separated from the Army after a decade of serving as a combat medic, was deployed to Iraq twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While in Iraq on his second tour of duty, Turner was injured in a rocket-propelled grenade attack.

Having suffered a head trauma, Turner’s injuries were so severe that he had to undergo multiple surgeries and endure hours of intense physical therapy. Turner not only found it incredibly difficult to deal with his visible and non-visible injuries, but also struggled with TBI and PTSD.

“Going into combat and taking care of others, that’s something that I was accustomed to. But what you’re not accustomed to is what happens,” he said. “We don’t like to have the conversations about what happens if you get injured. The reality of it is this; a lot of us don’t die on the battlefield but you come home with visible and non-visible injuries. When you think about those injuries, you have to think about not just how it affects you but also how it affects your family.”

For Turner, post-traumatic stress is not a disorder. Rather, he feels that it’s a normal reaction to abnormal situations that he experienced during his time in combat. “It’s more than the inability to sleep. It’s more than the amount of pain that you go through. It’s more than the headaches. It’s more than the nightmares,” said Turner. “It’s how this affects you throughout your day. It’s what others, who love you, have to go through seeing their loved one suffer.”

After being told that VA would be unable to provide the medical treatment he needed, Turner’s medical provider introduced him to the Shepherd Center’s SHARE program. It was that moment that his life was changed for the better.

Thanks to SHARE, Turner said he was no longer accustomed to just ignoring the pain and learned how to overcome the residuals of war by:

• Dealing with the pain;

• Understanding that pain is a normal process; and

• Having multiple ways of dealing with and addressing the pain, as well as any types of residuals.

“One of the best things that ever happened to me was that VA provider reaching out to SHARE,” Turner said. “When they tell you that they’re going to take care of you, I mean you literally live on-site (which) means they put you in a one-bed apartment. I was allowed to bring my family with me because part of the healing process is making sure that everyone gets a chance to heal and understand what you’re going through.”

For Turner, SHARE is not just a life-saving resource that all post-9/11 veterans should have access to. It’s also a family-building program that transforms lives in the same way Shepherd’s Men encourages camaraderie.

“Travis really cares about the plight of servicemembers and veterans. He cares about our families,” Turner said. “As far as me running with the Shepherd’s Men, this is a way for me to reach out to my fellow brothers and sisters who are in this and let them know that one, there’s help out there. Two, you don’t have to do it alone. And three, there is no shame in saying that you need help.”

Ellis said Shepherd’s Men is that much more meaningful.

“For me individually, it kind of fills a void as someone who’s never worn a uniform,” said Ellis. “It makes me feel like maybe somehow, I’ve done my part. We all have an obligation to serve in some capacity. … If I can channel all of my passion and energy towards this type of initiative and help our team and this program save lives, then I take pride in knowing that I’ve done my part to help in the fight.”

Now in his third year of participating, Turner said it is a duty and honor to run with Shepherd’s Men. Sharing the burden with those who are lost, weary and longing for a sense of hope is critical, especially for fallen servicemen like Steven Cruz, who Turner lost in 2015.

“Unfortunately, I buried my tenth brother-in-arms to suicide. This is our reality,” he said. “At some point in time, we as a nation and a society have to be able to come to grips with the residuals of war. We have to understand that war is complicated. We have to understand that it’s ugly. Men and women who stand up to serve their country, it’s not fair to them or their families that they feel like they have no hope, all is lost or no one really cares. That’s one of the things that I really love about the Shepherd’s Men — we get out and we let people know and understand that we’re still here. There’s still hope for you.”