By HILARY LOFTUS FOR HOW FOUNDATION OF S. FLORIDA AND LOGAN SKEES

Thousands of our local Veterans suffer from “invisible war wounds”: traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress (PTS), including Logan Skees, one of the number of veterans the Help Our Wounded (HOW) Foundation has assisted with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a rejuvenating painless therapy where pure oxygen is administered in a pressurized environment, thereby helping the body to naturally heal itself.

These invisible injuries have dramatic life-altering implications and their management can become financially demanding. Left untreated, TBI and PTS can deprive these veterans of a manageable quality of life, often resulting in chronic unemployment, homelessness, divorce, or even suicide. Resources to help these brave men and women who were injured while serving are not readily available and this therapy is not yet covered under VA and insurance benefits.

To illustrate these challenges, here is an excerpt from Logan’s writing about his experiences defending our country and our country’s freedoms: “ …I will always be grateful, humbled, and honored to have had the opportunity to serve in the United States Marine Corps, alongside the nation’s greatest heroes.

The default mode of combat has a propensity toward aggressive behaviors, fragmented/compartmentalized awareness, and severance of empathy towards self and others. This can create an incredible amount of stress on the human system, most of which goes unrecognized and even suppressed by warriors. If left unregulated and unprocessed, these effects can lead to the rapid degeneration of biological health, perceived state of well-being, and integration into communities.

Twenty-two veterans die by their own hands every day. I became aware of these tragic numbers as I approached the end of my time on active duty. During my journey of rebuilding a sound mind body, I traveled the world in pursuit of a diverse self-directed healing experiment as there were few viable options offered to service members that elicited true recovery.

Among the most beneficial techniques I found was hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy that I received through a sponsorship from the Help Our Wounded (HOW) Foundation. I highly recommend and advocate the wide scale use of this incredibly effective therapy for our veteran community as I believe it is one of the keys for a post-traumatic growth… Logan Skees During the week prior to Veterans Day, the HOW Foundation encourages you to join us in our signature event, Dine For Veterans (www.dineforveterans.com). Starting Sunday, November 6th, running through the week until Friday the 11th, you can dine at any of over a hundred South Florida restaurants in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, & Martin counties and the restaurant will donate a portion of the proceeds to our Veterans. 100% of the funds raised that week go toward Veteran therapy to relieve TBI and PSD. No administrative or event costs will be taken out of the money raised. These are veterans who want to get back to work, who want to reconnect with their families and with our communities…and you can help them. The HOW Foundation is very proud to be part of an inspiring life like Logan’s and the other veterans whom we have helped on their journey back to the health, opportunities and freedoms that so many of us enjoy on a daily basis as citizens of the U.S.A.

The mission of the Help Our Wounded (HOW) Foundation (www.howfoundationsf.org) is to improve the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities by advocating for and providing access to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Hilary Loftus for HOW Foundation of S. Florida and Logan Skees