Mission Accomplished
Former soldiers find a path toward reintegration in Park City.
Photography: Courtesy National Ability Center
“I just wanted to get away from the pain,” recalls veteran Warren Price, who returned home in 2005 after serving in Iraq as a medic and developed post-traumatic stress disorder. He endured a daily struggle with his thoughts, anger, and anxiety, propelling him into depression and self-destructive behavior. “I found myself spiraling toward suicide. It seemed like the only way out.”
Yet Price found a way out, one that has left him and his family intact. A three-day family retreat for veterans with physical disabilities at the National Ability Center (NAC) in Park City provided the support and the tools to help his entire family communicate better and reacquaint themselves with how to spend time together joyfully—such as making their way up an indoor rock climbing wall.
The NAC works with a variety of military programs to help soldiers and veterans, as well as their family members, find new footholds to climb toward a better future. The center uses its 26 acres—crisscrossed with mountain biking, horseback riding, and hiking trails—to offer people with disabilities access to recreation, immersion in natural beauty, and the thrill of accomplishment.
“The NAC activities show our soldiers, who feel like they have been broken, that there are many things they can still do,” says Sergeant First Class Steven Maxfield, a veteran who helps oversee the Community Based Warrior Transition Unit in Utah.
“Fly-fishing saved my life,” affirms Price, giving testament to the power of recreational therapy. “I will never forget the intense peace I felt as the water pressed against my waders. My thoughts of those guys who didn’t make it, and what I saw, all got washed away in the rush of the water.”
“Our programs are a means to an end,” says Gail Loveland, NAC’s executive director, who points out that NAC program goals are not just about learning a new sport or skill, but rather about getting excited and re-engaged in life, allowing for better connections with family and friends. As soldiers depart more emotionally nourished and self-empowered than when they first came, they leave behind a humbled NAC staff.
“These men and women don’t quit,” says Loveland, who has watched them face challenges that some view as impossible to overcome. “We’re here to show them what is possible, but there are days I honestly don’t know if I could be as courageous.”
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