Wounded warriors win with $38,000 raised in charity race
With his wife on one arm and a cane in the other, veteran Corey Lehman crossed the finish line at the seventh annual Wounded Warrior Lone Sailor 5K & 10k.
Lehman, of Deltona, injured his lower spine during a 2008 tour in Iraq.
It affected his ability to walk, so completing a 2-mile stretch of the course Saturday was a milestone in his recovery, said his wife, Heather Lehman.
He had finished just one other race, in 2010, but since then his family has pushed him around the track in his wheelchair.
“It’s an amazing feeling [to see him complete the walk],” Heather Lehman said. “It shows how far he has progressed.”
The Lehmans were two of about 1,300 people participating in the fundraising event benefiting the Camaraderie Foundation, an Orlando-based veterans-services organization, said event organizer and retired Navy Cmdr. Chris Townsend.
The walk took place at Blue Jacket Park in Baldwin Park, which was the site of the Orlando Naval Training Center from the 1960s to the 1990s.
It’s now primarily a residential neighborhood.
The foundation helps treat
the “invisible wounds of war” by offering counseling and support for the mental and emotional needs of returned soldiers and their families, Townsend said.
Brandi De Marinis of Clermont said the Camaraderie Foundation was there for her family after her husband returned home from two tours in Iraq with the Marines.
Her husband suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which led to unemployment and left his family with few resources to rely on.
De Marinis said the foundation began providing them free counseling services and helped when times got tough financially.
It bought their children backpacks for school, took them skating and even paid for a VIP trip to Sea-World for the family.
“I want to say thank you,” De Marinis said. “[Camaraderie] is really helping us veteran families be normal again.”
Saturday’s event raised $38,575 for the foundation.
A new statue of the Lone Soldier was also unveiled as a lasting memorial to the park’s rich naval history, Townsend said.