Wounded vets cope, build fishing rods for sale

CAPE CORAL, Fla.- Fishing is taking on a whole new meaning for wounded warrior Angel Vazquez who is coping with his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while working on crafting a new fishing rod.

“If that rod fails, you fail. If it succeeds, you are happy because it did what is was supposed to do,” said Vazquez, who served in the Army for over 26 years.

Vazquez is working on his third rod since becoming a member of the Wounded Warrior Anglers of America Organization, where veterans can take their passions for fishing and use it as a form of therapy.

“You are able to help each other, be there for each other, to trust, which is something you lose when you come back,” Vazquez said. “You’re not focusing on negative issues, your mind is not traveling to past places you are trying to forget.”

After veterans test out their rods, they go up for sale in the pro shop and most of the money goes back to the veteran.

“Ninety-percent of the donation for the rod goes to the veteran. The other 10 percent helps fund the program,” said Keith Campbell, Wounded Warrior Anglers. “The fishing rod building program keeps their mind off other things, keeps their mind off their medical conditions, where their next pay check is coming from and if the money they are getting from the VA is enough.”

The Wounded Warrior Anglers also opened their new headquarters in Cape Coral, a building that will serve as a place for veterans to receive counseling.

“I’m nervous. I want to meet the expectations and just to see the smiles on their faces and see how the public is going to react and support is what is going to keep it going,” Campbell said. “To work with the guys that you don’t see the wounds, what they’ve been through, how they feel, and the facilities now… you physically see the difference in them and that keeps me going.”