Riding My Way Back (2014) (NR)

FREE OF CHARGE: Screening of Riding My Way Back

Monday, June 29, 2015, 7:00 pm

Monmouth County Library - Headquarters

125 Symmes Drive, Manalapan, NJ  07726-3249

Tel. 732-431-7220 

Riding My Way Back is a short documentary that chronicles one soldier’s journey back from the brink of suicide. In 2010, Staff Sergeant Aaron Heliker returned from multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), in addition to third-degree burns and nerve damage from a roadside bomb. At his most desperate and isolated, on 42 medications and suicidal, Aaron is introduced to the unlikeliest of saviors: a horse named Fred. Through caring for Fred and building mutual trust, Aaron begins the difficult process of reconnecting to the world around him and healing the terrible, invisible wounds of war that had nearly defeated him. 

After the screening, members of SPUR (Special People United to Ride) will talk about therapeutic horsemanship. SPUR provides individuals with disabilities the opportunity to achieve personal goals through therapeutic horsemanship including self-esteem, social skills, balance, muscle tone and posture, and to process sensory messages sent to the brain. Riding a horse provides a variety of physical, emotional, and psychological stimuli. Q & A session will follow. 

The documentary runs for 26 minutes.