Army Veteran earns scholarship to participate in 2025 Winter Sports Clinic

He will join 400 first-time and experienced participants in the weeklong National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic (Winter Sports Clinic), VA’s premier adaptive winter sports event for Veterans with disabilities.

Rebuilding after the Army

Warkocki served from 1993 to 1996 as an Infantryman and M60 machine gunner with A Company, 5/87th Infantry (Light). He deployed to Panama as part of Joint Task Force Safe Haven. 

When he returned home, he struggled with sleep and depression. He turned to alcohol to cope.  

“I was having panic attacks, anxiety... couldn’t sleep,” Warkocki said. “Even going to the store felt like something terrible would happen.” 

Things unraveled quickly. He and his wife divorced. Over the next several years, he tried managing his drinking on his own. Then 9/11 happened. 

“Seeing the images of the post-9/11 wars on television was very exciting,” he said. “But those images triggered something I didn’t know was there.” 

A battle buddy steps in to help 

“I was self-medicating to suppress what my doctors say was untreated PTSD, which I didn’t know anything about at the time,” Warkocki said. 

Alcohol became Warkocki’s primary way of coping. His second wife gave him a choice: get help or get out. 

Thankfully, a friend of his, a Vietnam Veteran, noticed his struggles and stepped in to help. 

“He saw I was spiraling,” Warkocki said. “He told me, ‘We’re going to the Vet Center. You don’t have to do this alone.’” 

At the Tacoma Vet Center in Washington, Warkocki met other Veterans who understood what he was going through. 

“That friend and those men at the Vet Center saved my life that day,” said Warkocki. 

Vet Centers provide confidential counseling and connection for Veterans and survivors of military trauma. Find a Vet Center location near you. 

After years of treatment, a new start 

After the support he found at the Vet Center, Warkocki began his healing journey.  

Over the next several years, Warkocki received both inpatient and outpatient care at VA for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI)—a condition caused by head trauma—and chronic pain.  

He participated in therapy, pain management, and alternative treatments like acupuncture and Alpha-Stim.  

Acupuncture targets specific points in the body to reduce pain and tension. Alpha-Stim is a device that uses gentle electrical stimulation to treat anxiety, insomnia and depression. 

But even with all that effort, Warkocki struggled. 

In 2023, he moved to Utah to start fresh and enrolled at VA Salt Lake City Health Care System (VA Salt Lake City). He wanted a more personalized approach to his care. That’s when he discovered VA’s Whole Health program. 

Whole Health puts the Veteran at the center of their care, empowering them to set goals based on what matters most to them and supporting those goals through services like nutrition, mindfulness, physical activity and complementary therapies. 

Warkocki says that meant getting active again. 

A 180 through recreation therapy 

Through Whole Health, he was referred to recreation therapy. On his first outing, Warkocki joined a kayaking trip to the Jordanelle Reservoir in Heber City, Utah, and found himself engaged in a way he hadn’t felt in years.  

During the trip, a recreation therapist mentioned bowling and winter sports opportunities through VA, which piqued his interest. 

“I wasn’t sure if I could do winter sports physically,” Warkocki said. “But it stuck with me.” 

Later that night, he searched for the Winter Sports Clinic online. What he found changed his perspective. 

“I saw a Veteran who is blind and another who had an amputation skiing competitively,” he said. “I was blown away. I thought if they can do it, so can I.” 

That video served as his spark. From there, Warkocki began skiing regularly. He committed to lifestyle changes, lost 40 pounds and has kept showing up. 

Participating in Miracles on a Mountainside 

Weeks later, during an equine therapy session, he asked a serious question: Could he actually go to the Winter Sports Clinic? 

Equine therapy helps Veterans reconnect with their bodies and environment through structured interactions with horses. It can help reduce anxiety, improve emotional awareness and restore trust. 

“I was asking questions, just curious if I’d even qualify,” he said. 

He didn’t think he would. But his recreation therapist, Shannon O’Rawe, saw how committed he’d become. 

They worked with his provider to ensure his TBI diagnosis was correctly documented in his medical records, opening doors to new services. 

Then, she contacted the Winter Sports Clinic’s national director to advocate on his behalf for a scholarship available for Veterans living with TBI. 

The scholarship was coordinated by VA Western Colorado Health Care System and funded by private donors, including the family of Susan Hodder. Hodder was a longtime adaptive ski instructor at the clinic who passed away from cancer. 

“I wouldn’t have been able to go without the scholarship,” Warkocki said. “It’s set up to help first-time participants, especially those with TBI. That’s me.” 

A reason to keep going 

Warkocki is now training to participate in adaptive Alpine skiing at the clinic, held March 31 through April 5. 

His therapists have seen the transformation. 

“Like many Veterans, his PTSD and chronic pain symptoms were feeding off each other,” said Allison Thelin, a recreation therapist with VA Salt Lake City. “Now he greets other Veterans, tries new activities and adapts without crashing afterward.” 

Warkocki says skiing helps him stay grounded. 

“It gives me something to look forward to,” he said. “When I’m out there, I feel like I have a little control over my anxiety.” 

His advice to other Veterans? 

“Forget about your limitations,” he said. “Start thinking about what’s possible.” 

Learn more 

Visit Recreation Therapy at VA Salt Lake City or call Shannon O’Rawe at 801-635-5047 to learn more.    

Recreation therapy is a treatment service designed to restore, remediate and rehabilitate a Veteran’s level of functioning and independence in life activities, promote health and wellness, and reduce or eliminate the activity limitations or restrictions caused by an illness or disabling condition.  

To learn more about the Winter Sports Clinic, known as “Miracles on a Mountainside,” and how you can support or participate in this transformative event, visit the official website.

Jesus Flores is a writer and editor on the VISN 19 Creative Task Force and a Marine Corps Veteran.