by ELIZABETH ANDERSON


Observer photo by Elizabeth Anderson
Joe Mornini (seated on kayak) and Alex Leonard. Mornini is the executive director of Team River Runner. Leonard credits kayaking with helping him improve his walking. Leonard lost his leg in an explosion in Mozul, Iraq in 2003.


Listen to the audio interview by clicking above.

For veterans at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, rehabilitation comes in the form of an oar and kayak.

Every Tuesday evening, volunteers from Team River Runner, a Washington-based kayaking group, head to the physical therapy pool at the medical center to teach roughly six injured servicemen and servicewomen kayaking basics.

Team River Runner creatively outfits kayaks for amputees by cutting foam to fit into the kayak to accommodate the amputee’s body.

“We just cut [the foam] the way we need it and build what we want for these guys,” said the group’s Executive Director Joe Mornini.

Team River Runner has funding from Disabled American Veterans and Amvets, Mornini said. Their goal is to make sure hospitals in the Veteran’s Administration system have physical therapy pools like the one at Walter Reed.

Mornini said he wants the kayakers to be able to leave Walter Reed, which is a Department of Defense healthcare facility, and have a seamless transition into their next level of medical care.

The group is currently returning from the U.S. Virgin Islands where they brought seven veterans and five of their wives on a six-day kayak trip.

The organization is expanding, Mornini said. They will start kayaking-therapy programs in other Veteran’s Administration hospitals across the country. They’re expanding to Texas, California, Washington State, Boston, and Richmond, Va.

He hopes they will eventually branch out to Minneapolis, St. Louis, Denver, and Tampa Bay, Fla.

“We want to have kayaks available for them in the [Veteran's Administration] system,” Mornini said.