In 2014, then U.S. Navy hospital corpsman Jared Lenahan was grievously injured following a climbing accident during his deployment to Sigonella, Italy. After a brief period of care in Europe, he was transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was a patient for almost five years.

Lenahan suffered major bone breaks throughout his body, torn muscles, and a traumatic brain injury. Confined to a wheelchair for the first two and half years of his treatment, Lenahan admits to feeling overwhelmed and losing heart. It wasn’t until he visited Walter Reed’s Military Advanced Training Center (MATC) that he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. As he witnessed another patient, a triple amputee, vigorously exercising, Lenahan realized he still had much to be grateful for, and he was inspired to begin his journey back to full recovery.

The MATC is designed to aid amputees and those with traumatic injuries learn how to manage and overcome their challenges. It was originally established to provide care for service members returning from combat overseas. One of the areas the MATC uses to assist in the recovery process many of their patients face is with participation in adaptive sports. Adaptive sports use modified rules and equipment to open competitive and recreational athletic opportunities for people with physical, cognitive, or visual impairment.

“They had told me I might not climb, or even walk again,” said Lenahan. “I said, ’Watch me.’ I [attacked] my physical therapy and got back on course. After a couple years, I began climbing again and made it onto the U.S. Paraclimbing team. Climbing is the one thing that helped me…through my recovery, my TBI, through multiple layers of PTSD. Climbing is a thing that requires so much focus, and determination and physicality that whatever’s going on in your head at that time, it can pull you out of that.”

Harvey Naranjo, a certified occupational therapy assistant, is Walter Reed’s Adaptive Sports and Reconditioning program manager and he works in the MATC as a member of the Department of Rehabilitation. Originally deployed to the facility in 2002 while still on active duty, he worked with what was then called the amputee care team. Later, after his separation from the Army, Naranjo remained with Walter Reed and has been a team member for more than 20 years.

“Back then I was working with our infantry and special operations population who were at the front lines of the conflicts,” said Naranjo. “Traditional balls and cones in the clinic weren’t going to do it. I needed to find ways to keep them engaged and invested in their rehab. I basically took exercises we would do in the clinic and gave them purpose through sport.”

Naranjo’s work with recovering service members originally began with a focus on community reintegration; getting them used to being out and involved in the world again. The interest in adaptive sports as therapy, and beyond, came when he happened to attend a meeting and encountered people involved in the adaptive sports world. Naranjo began connecting with other organizations who were involved in adaptive sports and then he learned the Department of Veterans Affairs ran a winter sports clinic and began coordinating with them.

“I found there were a bunch of resources out in the community that wanted to support service members and provide these types of opportunities for them,” said Naranjo.

Once Walter Reed stood up the MATC in 2005, the adaptive sports program was quick to follow, in great part due to Naranjo’s urging. Many of his peers saw the results that were being achieved by pushing the patients to be more active.

“We had support from our leadership at that time who were invested in our combat wounded,” said Naranjo. “They let me take the ball and run with it, and I was honored. It was a huge responsibility and I wanted to make sure that I did the best job possible.”

In fact, Walter Reed was the first facility in the U.S. Military Health System to introduce adaptive sports as part of its official treatment regimen and several other military medical facilities have since followed its example.

Naranjo’s experience as an occupational therapy assistant provided an excellent basis to incorporate adaptive sports into his work at the MATC. Occupational therapy assists people in performing everyday activities that matter most to them. These daily tasks are called "occupations" and include everything from self-care, work and school to socializing and leisure. Whether dressing, cooking or playing with children, occupational therapy focuses on improving one’s ability to perform such tasks. By adapting environments or using assistive tools, it helps maintain independence and improve overall quality of life.

“Occupational therapy is about maximizing function,” said Naranjo. “I focus on the athlete role because when you look at our service members returning from battle, they’re athletes that basically need to have a sense of physical fitness, mental fitness and movement.”

Adaptive sports take many forms - bicycling, skiing, running, boxing, rock climbing, and the list goes on. Since the inception of Walter Reed's adaptive sports program, Naranjo has organized an annual exposition to showcase available resources. On average, hundreds of visitors attend the event each year, where upwards of 20-plus organizations demonstrate cutting-edge equipment, novel techniques, and diverse opportunities for participation in various adaptive sports events.

“You can see the shine in a patient’s eyes when they find a sport that interests them,” said Naranjo. “But you can also see it in their family’s eyes, standing next to them, as they begin to realize that ‘Wow! It’s not over.’”

Naranjo works in the MATC beside a dedicated team that includes other occupational, recreational and physical therapists, as well as physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians and prosthetists. Together they work diligently to rehabilitate and inspire their patients to successfully reintegrate into the community.

Former patients from Walter Reed have gone on to participate in many different adaptive sports on a professional or semi-professional level. Several prior patients currently play for the U.S. National Paralympic hockey team, at least two have achieved medals in the Paralympics for swimming, triathlons and skiing and one was featured on Dancing with the Stars.

Lenahan’s experiences with adaptive sports have had such a profound impact on him that he has made it his passion to help others discover the benefits. He teaches climbing at local fitness centers, too, and provides inspirational talks at events like the Walter Reed annual expo.

“I realized what climbing has done for me, and I realized I can use that as a tool to help other recovering warriors heal,” said Lenahan. “If I could say one thing about adaptive sports, it’s a good place to put your energy. It can help pull you out of the pits of despair.”

For more information on Walter Reed’s MATC and its adaptive sports program visit their website at Walter Reed - Military Advanced Training Center.