During his Friday evening Fox News Channel program, Sean Hannity and former Vice President Dick Cheney highlighted the Rivers of Recovery program, which rehabilitates combat veterans.
Dan T. Cook founded Rivers of Recovery in 2008 “to help combat veterans overcome the invisible scars.”
“Rivers of Recovery,” Cook said, “is the outdoor-based recreational therapy program. It uses outdoor activities, such as fly fishing, camping and running rivers, combined with a medically designed curriculum to help combat veterans heal from psychological and physical injuries.”
Veterans, he added, use those outdoor activities to learn to control the effects of their combat experience.
“We use the outdoors and these outdoor activities that build a sense of confidence and self-empowerment,” Cook told Hannity. “It’s the perfect platform to bring in these techniques that help them manage and mitigate post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression.”
Cheney explained why he had an appreciation for the program, which is based on the Snake River in his home state of Wyoming.
“It’s a great program,” Cheney said. “When I was vice president we used to have the guys down from Bethesda, healing waters program, which is similar to Rivers of Recovery, come down and bring their gear down and spend an afternoon, with the captain, who organized it. You could have used some of those lessons.”
But it’s not just for their benefit, he said. He gets something out of it as well.
“It’s my favorite part of the whole world,” he said. “There is nothing better that you can do than spend the day with guys on the river. … It’s refreshing. I do it a couple of times a week.”
Hannity encouraged his viewers to check out the organization’s website.
“Rivers of Recovery is a great organization, but they need your help so that they can help more of these veterans out,” Hannity said. “Now just go to their web site, riversofrecovery.org to learn how you can help.”
