Veterans Find Relief in the River

The Potomac River is helping heal wounded veterans.

That's thanks to Team River Runner, a non-profit co-founded in 2004 by Joe Mornini and Mike McCormick in Washington, D.C. The organization has now grown to nearly 40 chapters in 22 states.

The program provides adaptive kayaking equipment manufactured by an organization in Minnesota and specialized instruction to wounded veterans who have suffered loss of limbs, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. Sessions are offered multiple times per week on the Potomac River. 

When they’re not paddling on the Potomac, the D.C. chapter offers pool sessions at David Taylor Model Basin, one of the largest naval military research centers in the world, and holds an annual biathlon in the fall as well as ongoing leadership clinics, where new instructors are trained.

All instructors are volunteers and many are past participants of the program, so former soldiers can learn from other veterans and share their experiences. No registration required; just a few waiver forms to sign.  

John Bolhuis, one of the lead instructors for Team River Runner, returned to the U.S. in December 2008 after a ten-month tour in Afghanistan. His vehicle was rocked by a bomb and he developed post-traumatic stress disorder in addition to traumatic brain injuries sustained in the explosion.

Bolhuis spent three years at Walter Reed in Bethesda for therapy including behavioral health therapy, physical therapy and outpatient programs.

“The therapy helped, but what’s the point of being healthy if you have nothing to live for?” Bolhuis said. “Team River Runner got me healthy again.”

Bolhuis, an avid kayaker since the age of five, joined three years ago, quickly moved up the ranks and began volunteering to teach others.

“I started as a participant and fell in love with the program,” he said. “If I hadn’t become a part of this I don’t know where I’d be. Not to play up the whole cliché, but I’d probably be drinking my sorrows away at some bar.”

Experienced volunteers regularly brave the Potomac's Great Falls, Joe Mornini said, and those who stay with the program long enough are eligible to travel to places from Colorado to the Caribbean. The community that has formed around the organization is tight-knit and continually growing.

Mornini wants every wounded veteran to have the same positive experience, he said. This year he had around 40 newly-disabled veterans come through the program, ages ranging from 18 to 50; some from the Vietnam War.

“Paddling is a wonderful sport. It involves independence, exercise, and a connection with nature and adventure. It’s also competitive,” Mornini said. “We have kayak football, sprint racing, and they can train for the Paralympics and bring their families out with them. It’s a great equalizer. It’s enabling.”

Mornini is creating a national network by introducing his model to other states, with plans to open more chapters in the future. “All recreation adventure programs should look at what we’re doing. We actually hope other programs will steal our model,” Mornini said.

Learn more about donating to Team River Runner and contact Joe Mornini or find your local chapter information here.