thedrifter
05-01-07, 08:02 AM
Golf tourney raises money for Fisher House
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 30, 2007 18:45:05 EDT
LEESBURG, Va. — The golfer instructed his student to set his prosthetic legs in a wider stance, then tweaked the student’s shoulders.
The student, medically retired Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Dale Beatty, returned to hitting golf balls on the driving range at Lansdowne Golf Club here. As Beatty smacked one downrange, the instructor yelled, “There you go! Absolutely perfect!”
“As an amputee, everything is about balance,” said the instructor, Ken Peck, of Orlando, Fla., who has taught golf for 15 years, first as a former professional instructor, and now part-time as a member of the National Amputee Golf Association.
As a double amputee himself, he knows all too well of what he speaks. Peck gave personal instructions to Beatty and another wounded Iraq war veteran on the finer points of playing the game as an amputee before the start of the 4th Annual Fisher House Golf Classic Monday. About a dozen wounded veterans joined more than 240 other golfers as part of the tournament. More than 50 corporations paid sponsorships for their employees and guests, raising more than $500,000 for the nonprofit Fisher House Foundation.
The net proceeds from the event will be used to build a 16,800-square-foot, 21-suite Fisher House at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, one of four “level one” polytrauma centers operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. These centers provide acute comprehensive medical and rehabilitative care for those with complex and severe multiple injuries, and their staffs provide long-term rehabilitative care to service members with traumatic brain injury.
A Fisher House already exists at the Minneapolis VA center, but it has only 10 rooms, and there’s a waiting list of families of combat casualties for those accommodations, said Fisher House spokesman Jim Weiskopf.
In addition, a Fisher House under construction at the James A. Haley VA Medical center in Tampa, Fla., will soon join the 37 Fisher Houses that have been donated by the foundation at 18 military installations and eight VA medical centers.
Ken Fisher, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Fisher House Foundation, said the comfort homes have served more than 100,000 families since 1990, with two million days of lodging.
Beatty, who lost his legs in Iraq in 2004, said being able to stay at the Fisher House at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington “really meant a lot to my family” during an overwhelming situation, he said. As his recuperation progressed, he was able to stay at the Fisher House with his wife Belinda and two sons, Dustin, now 5, and Lucas, almost 3.
“We had a place to practice being a family again,” Beatty said. “It helped a lot for me to become a father again, and for my kids to understand I was Dad, and I was back.”
His youngest son, Lucas, celebrated his first birthday at the Fisher House, said Beatty, of Statesville, N.C.
In less than an hour of the golf clinic, Peck “has already helped me a lot,” Beatty said, especially showing him how to widen his stance. “I’d been trying to play like I did before. He showed me what I could do to compensate for having my legs gone,” he said.
Peck also worked with them on doing their shoulder turns, which is harder for amputees, Beatty said.
“I am so excited to be able to come here and help out,” Peck said, adding that he is humbled by the veterans’ service and sacrifice, and by the efforts of the companies and the Fisher House Foundation to help them.
“Any time I can encourage them to enjoy the game a little more by hitting the ball a little bit better, I love doing that,” Peck said. “As an amputee, I love to encourage other amputees.”
Ellie
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 30, 2007 18:45:05 EDT
LEESBURG, Va. — The golfer instructed his student to set his prosthetic legs in a wider stance, then tweaked the student’s shoulders.
The student, medically retired Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Dale Beatty, returned to hitting golf balls on the driving range at Lansdowne Golf Club here. As Beatty smacked one downrange, the instructor yelled, “There you go! Absolutely perfect!”
“As an amputee, everything is about balance,” said the instructor, Ken Peck, of Orlando, Fla., who has taught golf for 15 years, first as a former professional instructor, and now part-time as a member of the National Amputee Golf Association.
As a double amputee himself, he knows all too well of what he speaks. Peck gave personal instructions to Beatty and another wounded Iraq war veteran on the finer points of playing the game as an amputee before the start of the 4th Annual Fisher House Golf Classic Monday. About a dozen wounded veterans joined more than 240 other golfers as part of the tournament. More than 50 corporations paid sponsorships for their employees and guests, raising more than $500,000 for the nonprofit Fisher House Foundation.
The net proceeds from the event will be used to build a 16,800-square-foot, 21-suite Fisher House at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, one of four “level one” polytrauma centers operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. These centers provide acute comprehensive medical and rehabilitative care for those with complex and severe multiple injuries, and their staffs provide long-term rehabilitative care to service members with traumatic brain injury.
A Fisher House already exists at the Minneapolis VA center, but it has only 10 rooms, and there’s a waiting list of families of combat casualties for those accommodations, said Fisher House spokesman Jim Weiskopf.
In addition, a Fisher House under construction at the James A. Haley VA Medical center in Tampa, Fla., will soon join the 37 Fisher Houses that have been donated by the foundation at 18 military installations and eight VA medical centers.
Ken Fisher, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Fisher House Foundation, said the comfort homes have served more than 100,000 families since 1990, with two million days of lodging.
Beatty, who lost his legs in Iraq in 2004, said being able to stay at the Fisher House at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington “really meant a lot to my family” during an overwhelming situation, he said. As his recuperation progressed, he was able to stay at the Fisher House with his wife Belinda and two sons, Dustin, now 5, and Lucas, almost 3.
“We had a place to practice being a family again,” Beatty said. “It helped a lot for me to become a father again, and for my kids to understand I was Dad, and I was back.”
His youngest son, Lucas, celebrated his first birthday at the Fisher House, said Beatty, of Statesville, N.C.
In less than an hour of the golf clinic, Peck “has already helped me a lot,” Beatty said, especially showing him how to widen his stance. “I’d been trying to play like I did before. He showed me what I could do to compensate for having my legs gone,” he said.
Peck also worked with them on doing their shoulder turns, which is harder for amputees, Beatty said.
“I am so excited to be able to come here and help out,” Peck said, adding that he is humbled by the veterans’ service and sacrifice, and by the efforts of the companies and the Fisher House Foundation to help them.
“Any time I can encourage them to enjoy the game a little more by hitting the ball a little bit better, I love doing that,” Peck said. “As an amputee, I love to encourage other amputees.”
Ellie