The Emerald Coast Chapter embraced the motto that "Even as an ARMY of ONE, you should never have to fight ALONE" when they worked together to help find a way for Thomas to get on the water in his own kayak.

In September, Thomas came to a Heroes on the Water event and a few of the volunteers got him into a tandem kayak for a ride around the launch area. This was a big achievement for Thomas as he is paralyzed and has fought long and hard to get much of his upper body strength and function back - but paddling a kayak on his own wasn't something he was going to be able to do.

Some of the volunteers started brainstorming ways to get Thomas on the water - fishing - in his own kayak. After several days, this smart and determined group figured out a way to tether three kayaks together - the middle kayak for Thomas rigged with a rod holder that he could reach and keep tension on the line - and a kayak on each side to provide propulsion, steering, anchoring, baiting and casting.

Unfortunately - no fish were caught on this day - but everyone had fun and Emerald Coast Coordinator Michael Findley wrote "I was proud of our group of volunteers, sponsors, and participants because today we did indeed 'CAPTURE FREEDOM'. "

Thomas wrote "Yes it was FREEDOM to leave that thing on the shore today while I was out on the water with Barrett and Eric. THANKS GUYS!!!"

Your gifts to Heroes on the Water - offer HOPE and HEALING to our HEROES and will make sure heroes like Thomas are not fighting the battle alone.