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Aaron Chimbel reports
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KAUFMAN COUNTY -- Brandon Blackstone sits back snugly in a bright yellow kayak, flicks his right wrist and casts his fishing pole line.
On this 40 acre quarry lake west of Terrell he has the serenity, the peace he needs after what happened four years ago.
Blackstone, a former Marine corporal, was on-duty in Iraq in 2005 when he was blown up by an anti-tank mine. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, has suffered seizures and has had eight surgeries.
"I think all of us that have been over there have experienced some form of post-traumatic stress and have nightmares," Blackstone says.
Being on this lake, as the early morning turns to early afternoon, on this 102 degree day is the perfect escape for Blackstone.
"You get out of the house, helps you forget about things for a while," he says of the outing. "You can come out here and relax, just be with nature."
That's the goal of Heroes on the Water, a non-profit run out of Allen. It's the main project of the Kayak Anglers Society of America.
Jim Dolan, a former Air Force pilot, is using his passion for kayak fishing to head this effort and to help injured service members and veterans like Blackstone.
"You go out, you're by yourself, you're responsible for yourself and you can sit and relax and do exactly what you want to do," Dolan says. "When the fishing is like it was today, you're thinking about fishing, you're not thinking about anything else and so he can just relax and chill out."
The program started at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio in 2007. The major who started the project deployed and last year Dolan took over. The project has consumed Dolan, a commercial airline pilot who flew C-130s for the Air Force from 1976 to 1989.
He regularly spends 12-to 14-hour days when he's not flying working on this project.
"Why do I do it? You saw him," Dolan says of Blackstone. "When you get a kid like that come out, want to go fishing, gets a chance to come out here and relax and just chill out. It's amazingly rewarding. That's why I do it because of those guys."
This is how Dolan serves now.
"I can help somebody out and we can make them progress, get better, get 'em out, get 'em active, get 'em doing things," Dolan says. "Anybody that says that doesn't make them feel good is a fool. I mean it makes me feel good. There is no question about that. It just is something that we want to do."
The trips are either one-on-one or in small groups and all at quiet fishing holes. The idea is to make it a comfortable environment.
Part of the reason Dolan has been able to take the veterans fishing is because Busbee Ranch Sales allows Heroes on the Water to use stocked lakes that are up for sale, like the one Blackstone enjoyed, across Texas.
It's fishing from a kayak that is something new for even avid fishermen like Blackstone, who caught several fish in his time on the water.
The benefits, though, go beyond the catch. Dolan found an unexpected outcome from the trips: They're therapeutic.
"If you don't have a way to relieve stress and cope with things, this is perfect. This will help you relax, reduce stress," says Blackstone, who is now a counselor and hopes to eventually work at the VA helping fellow injured veterans. "It's good in so many ways, plus you know that you have support."
Heroes on the Water is spreading across the country. What started in Texas, now has affiliated groups in Washington state, Georgia, Norfolk, Va. and outside Washington, D.C., with other anglers showing interest in starting other chapters.
Dolan says more than 130 injured veterans have benefited by these outing.
The need is great because the symptoms of brain injuries are things we don't see. It's pain that often goes untreated.
"You have traumatic brain injury, sometimes you forget things, have short term memory loss," says Blackstone.
Dolan says because of the way Heroes on the Water works and who it helps makes it among the most important things he's done in his life.
"Other than marrying my wife and having a couple kids and raising kids, right in there," Dolan says. "It's cool, it's awesome."
