Oregon's rushing rivers are therapy for war scars

Oregon's rushing rivers are therapy for war scars
A Washington, D.C.-based kayaking group for Iraq veterans runs a rafting race in Oregon Monday, May 19, 2008
LAURA OPPENHEIMER The Oregonian Staff
Team River Runner launched its raft a mile upstream, powered through crashing waves and coasted under the Carter Bridge to win its race Sunday at the 25th annual Upper Clackamas Whitewater Festival.

But their journey began much farther away -- in Iraq.

The six-man boat included two special guests: injured soldiers who are redefining themselves in the water. Oregon's paddling community pulled together to host Kevin Pannell and Troy Crawford, who met Portland-area guides during a December expedition to Costa Rica.

Pannell was always a physical guy. He played nose guard for his high school football team and joined the Arkansas National Guard as a teenager. But while he patrolled a Baghdad neighborhood in June 2004, a grenade exploded at his feet. Pannell had both legs amputated, and he spent more than a year at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He started from scratch, learning to walk on prosthetics.

Toward the end of Pannell's hospital stay, he noticed signs for Team River Runner. Kayakers created the nonprofit to help wounded veterans heal -- and find a new passion. Sounded interesting.

"It was just something I was trying," says 29-year-old Pannell. "As time progressed, I realized it was a way to get the rush back."

He'd returned to Arkansas when Crawford arrived at the hospital in March 2006, suffering from brain trauma and shrapnel wounds. The Michigan native, who spent six years in the Marines before enlisting in the Army, was hit by a bomb.

Crawford was a sports nut -- he wrestled and played football, baseball and hockey -- and he'd always wanted to try rafting. He was stoked to hear about Team River Runner, but he didn't sign up until he spotted a vanful of kayaks in the hospital parking lot.

"When do you practice?" he asked the group leader.

"Now. Get your suit and come down to the pool."
click post title for more