10 CLACKAMAS PRINT • JUNE 3,2015
Arm y veteran Aaron Heliker deals with his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by training, grooming vand riding horses at Rainier Therapeutic Riding.
by Debbie Fox & Lily Shaver x
Many young soldiers come home with injuries, men
tal images of the past and suicidal tendencies. Aaron
Heliker came home from his last tour of Afghanistan
a fragm ent of the young man w ho left. Heliker sus
tained injuries and suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder.
Heliker was taking 42 pills every day and there
was no evidence th a t the pills were providing relief.
He and his doctor did not see eye to eye. After his
last visit to the doctor, he says, wrote my suicide
letter, locked and loaded my 9 mil. I was ready to pull
the trigger.” Faced w ith overwhelming physical pain,
afraid of becoming close to anyone, and so desperate
th a t he could see no hopeful future, Heliker did n ’t
w ant to continue living. He was on a suicide watch,
arid someone from the battalion would call every 15
minutes. If there was no response, somebody from
the battalion would rush over to make sure he was
alright.
Debbie Fisher, the ow ner o f Rainier Therapeutic
Riding, returned his cal, at the very minute he was
going to pull the trigger. Fisher offered some reasons
w (iy Heliker needed to help her w ith her horses. She
went even further than that, the extra mile, and picked
him up. Three months into the program, Heliker pre
sented Fisher w ith his suicide letter and informed her
th a ttie would no longer have a need fo r the letter.
This was the start o f the long journey back to being
able to cope w ith everyday life.
Heliker began riding, training and grooming horses.
Three years after starting the program, to start com
petition horsemanship. He finished in prize contention
after several o f the com petitions. Heliker now has
his own horse. “I bought my own horse, a red horse
a.k.a. ch e stn u t., don’t care w hat they call it, I refuse
to cal, my horse a c h e stn u t” The horse has a red
tint, which reminds the soldier of his unit, also called
“ Red Horse.” Heliker carried the horsemanship skills
that were learned in the equine therapy program with
him. Heliker has hopes o f opening his own program
near Spokane, Wash, w ithin the next 10 years.
Heliker’s story appeared in a number of newspa
pers worldwide. Robin Fryday and Peter Rosenbaum
contacted Heliker about turning his story into a docu
mentary. This is when “Riding My Way Back” was born.
“This is a story o f hope,” Heliker explained.
It took tw o years of film ing for a 28-m inute d oc
umentary.
“it’s not about how many awards we win; it’s about
how many lives are being saved,” Heliker said. “Twen
ty-tw o veterans com m it suicide every day, and the
documentary was designed to lower th a t statistic.
t ^ e jite £ credits Fisher w ith saving his life. It was a
1ong;|phesome journey back from the depths of de-
spair u n tifh e m et Fisher and began equine therapy.
Today, Heliker is a student at Clackamas Community
College, taking classes in the Collision Repair program.
Army Strong Community Centers have tw o Contract
Customer Coordinators, Annie Crawford and Kyle Bell,
in th e Clackamas C om m unity College Com m unity
Center. Areas of support include briefings to groups,
benefits and entitlements, education and employment
assistance and referrals to helping agencies. There is
free dental service being offered w ith participating
Aspen Dental locations. For more contact information,
contact ASCC at (503) 594-6215. Crawford says, “I
am excited about this new service.”
Bryan Farrell works in the Veteran’s Center at CCC.
“In a sense (my job) entitles helping veterans pursue
their education w ith helping them apply for their VA
education benefits and the G.l. Bill,” said Farrell. The
Veterans Center offers many diverse resources for
veterans. Not only do they provide support in pursu
ing an education for veterans, but they also provide
basics such as a book exchange, food and coffee.
The Veterans Center has a link on CCC’s home page
for easy access to w hat is going on in the Veterans
Center, “if you have a problem we are very active
in resolving it or pursuing a resolution,” said Farrell.
The Veterans Center is a place for veterans to go
to get aid in many different areas.
“Veterans are first in our eyes,” said Farrell, “iftthere
somehow is a disconnect between the Veterans Cen
ter and the school, we make sure that it gets resolved.”