JANUARY 20, 2016 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016, 1:21 AM
BY TODD SOUTH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The Iraq war veteran carefully looped a thread around a steel hook secured in a vice to make a fly-fishing lure as his 15-year-old guide, Will Percy, quietly offered words of advice.
It was an exercise in patience that in some way embodies the challenging task that Will, a Wyckoff resident, has embarked upon: bringing fly-fishing into the lives of disabled veterans.
Nearly a year ago, Will saw a promotion for a non-profit fishing group, Project Healing Waters, that teaches fly-fishing skills to disabled veterans. He contacted the New York chapter and asked if he could get involved. A short time later, the call came back, asking if he would guide a disabled veteran on an outing on the Musconetcong River in northwest New Jersey.
That’s when he realized that the peace he always got from fly-fishing might help someone else. It inspired him to found a North Jersey chapter of the group, whose mission began in therapy classes at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in 2005. Since then, the program has expanded to 209 locations across the 50 states and in Germany.
