Aea veteran Ryan Mitchell describes getting reinvigorated and preparing to climb the mountains in Whistler, British Columbia.
With a group of 10 veterans from across the country, Mitchell hiked on Whistler mountainsides Aug. 19 through an annual initiative by the Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence for Canadian Veterans. The event acted as a way to promote awareness and education about veterans living with chronic pain.
“It helped everyone’s mental health, and it was just truly life changing for almost everyone,” he said.
Mitchell wants to bring some of that experience to the York Region through a new hiking group for veterans. He plans to connect with local legions to start the group and share an experience he said did wonders for him.
Before departing for Whistler this month, Mitchell said he spent several months training and working with health practitioners to ensure his body was ready. After 18 years in the Armed Forces as a combat commander, the Markham resident has multiple health challenges such as microfractures in his feet and long-term impacts of dislocated shoulders and concussions.
“Rather than just doing the slow, old man walk with my dog, I was out two or three times a day,” he said. “It helps me with my mental health just being outside in the fresh air.
“I can’t run anymore because of my injuries … but walking is something I can do,” he added. “I can’t believe how much simple walking even helped my mental health and attitude.”
The challenge itself was meant to help the veterans participating learn about managing their condition. The Chronic Pain Centre for Excellence said about 20 per cent of Canadians have chronic pain and veterans suffer at twice that rate.
“Our focus is on helping the veterans develop strategies for managing their chronic pain, applying the skills they developed in the military to new goals and life experiences,” veteran and past chair of the Centre of Excellence Advisory Council of Veterans Tom Hoppe said in a news release. “Transitioning out of active service is extremely difficult for veterans, so it is a really impactful event that brings a sense of comradeship, community, and challenge back into the lives of those who participate.”
The experience itself was challenging. Mitchell said with wildfires raging in western Canada and the winds creating temporary smoky skies at times, plans had to be changed on the scene and getting a helicopter ride to a location became too risky.
“We did a longer hike that needed not as much altitude, but it was tough. But everyone persevered,” he said. “It was absolutely unreal. People 25 up to 65, different injuries … everyone completed, and in typical military fashion, we all completed together.”
Interacting and having camaraderie with fellow veterans was also a highlight, he said.
“Doing the hike together, that’s when we bonded. It’s when you’re checking each other’s backpack and kit, you’re sharing poles with people who didn’t bring poles,” he said. “We had an amazing bond because we came together. … We all got back safe, and we all did it together.”
The smoke from the wildfires raging through Canada did put a damper on things. In Whistler, he said it would vary depending on the wind, with one hour potentially having clear skies and the next being covered in smoke.
“We didn’t quite realize it till after I’d be waking up, my windows open, the first light and I was hacking up a lung,” he said, adding that when the wind blew the smoke in, “you can’t see anything.”
Having gone through this hike, he said he intends to start a group locally for veterans that may be able to send out someone each year to one of these larger hike events.
Although veterans may struggle getting into some physical activities like team sports, he said that walking can be more doable.
“It’s something you can do to get out and get active,” he said. “There’s so much to be said about getting into the environment and being in nature. We’re very fortunate we have that here in York Region."
