A roadside bomb in Afghanistan took away Chris Short's lower right leg, but not his passion for fly fishing.
The 24-year-old Army sergeant from Little Rock, Ark., will compete in the Kenai River Classic this weekend, courtesy of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association.
The association is building links with Project Healing Waters, a volunteer organization that sends wounded veterans on fly-fishing trips to help them recover both physically and emotionally.
"It's an integral part of their therapy," said Barry Yancosek, a rehabilitation specialist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in suburban Washington, D.C.
Short's return to fly-fishing helped him appreciate that his life wasn't over. Since participating in a few trips with Project Healing Waters, Short has become a volunteer recruiter for the organization.
"You gain a sense of independence, and it's so serene out there," Short said Monday, sitting in the lobby of the Anchorage Downtown Marriott. Besides fishing the Kenai, Short is in town with more than 500 other veterans to compete in the 26th National Veterans Wheelchair Games.
Short learned to fish at age 4 from his father. He grew up on a 17-acre lake in Little Rock fishing for bass, bluegill and crappie.
After being deployed to Afghanistan in April 2004, Short spied what looked like trout in some streams and thought about having his family mail him his fly rod. But between hunting down Taliban and al-Qaida militants and constructing schools and other public works, there wasn't much time for fishing.
A year later and one week away from returning to the United States, Short and a gunner drove over an improvised explosive device in their Humvee. Besides losing part of his leg, Short suffered a brain injury from shrapnel. He also lost mobility in one elbow but has since regained it through surgery.
"All I remember was being carried to the chopper," Short said.
A couple of weeks later, he woke up at Walter Reed and "noticed I didn't have a leg anymore." He found out about Project Healing Waters at the hospital, where wounded vets practice tying flies and casting with fly rods on the lawn.
Retired Navy Capt. Ed Nicholson started the organization two years ago after a stay at the hospital himself. A fly-fisherman and duck hunter, Nicholson saw young amputees wheeling themselves around the hospital and a thought came to him. After pondering it a little more, he decided to approach the hospital's rehabilitation director with the idea.
"I love the outdoors and was going to spend more time outdoors myself fly-fishing and hunting birds," Nicholson said from his home in southern Maryland. "I figured I would go out and see if any of these guys at Walter Reed wanted to come with me."
Several did.
Nicholson turned to his local chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Federation of Fly Fishers to see if he could find support. He also took his idea to outdoor shows and fishing guides. Support in the way of offers for free trips flowed in. Project Healing Waters now organizes several trips a year and solicits funding from donors to pay for airplane tickets and lodging.
The organization has sent about 25 veterans on trips to Montana, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maine. It's hoping to spread the word this week among Alaska outfitters and guides who may be interested in donating.
Ricky Geasy, executive director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, recently learned about Project Healing Water and invited Short and Yancosek to take part in the classic.
"It's important for these guys to come down here and see what we do and see where it goes from there," Geasy said.
More information about Project Healing Waters is at www.projecthealingwaters.org.
Daily News reporter Paula Dobbyn can be reached at pdobbyn@adn.com or 257-4317.
