Maryland veteran adapts to life after injuries with help of family retreat

BALTIMORE — A veterans retreat helped Annapolis resident William Swick relax with his family after a serious injury that occurred during his military career.
He joined the Navy in 1996. 
“I was commissioned as a Surface Warfare Officer and I did two tours driving ships,” Swick said. 
He said about midway through his career, he was injured in an accident. 
“Herniated my spinal cord, and the surgery is what left me paralyzed in 2019,” Swick said. “I was sort of losing left side functions because of the herniation and the corrective surgery sort of made me a T6 paraplegic.” 
Around the time of his injury, Swick was still in the Navy teaching at the Naval Academy. He began rehab and later medically retired in 2020. 
Swick said it was a big change in his life, not only for him but for his wife and six children. 
Throughout this process, he learned about the Travis Mills Foundation, a veterans retreat in Central Maine for injured vets and their families. 
“They give support services to families that sort of are trying to figure out that new existence,” Swick said. 
“Life will throw a curveball, but they can adapt and overcome,” said Travis Mills, the founder of the foundation. 
“It’s a message of hope for several injured veterans. 
Mills said he and his team help veterans relax and teach them to adapt and overcome. 
“We have people in wheelchairs doing ropes courses,” Mills said. “Maybe don’t realize that they can kayak, going kayaking with their family and doing archery with no arms.” 
The foundation came to life during Mills’ own recovery process The retired U.S. Army Staff Sergeant lost all four of his limbs after an explosive device went off during his third tour in Afghanistan. He is a quadruple amputee, one of five from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to survive. 
During his nine-month recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Mills said his wife and daughter lifted his spirits and encouraged him to stay persistent. 
“When I was laying in the hospital bed, wondering what I was going to do, I had a little girl that was six months old laying on my chest squeezing my nose, and I realized I couldn’t give up on her.” Mills said. 
Mills went on to attend an adaptive sports camp which inspired him to create his own foundation. Through the Travis Mills Foundation, he has a new way of serving other veterans across the country. 
“I love the fact that I get to give back and let people know that life goes on,” Mills said. 
Mills said thousands of people attended the retreat, with about eight families attending each week. Swick is just one of them, and said he’s not only fortunate he attended several times, but also is glad he had the chance to do it with his family. 
“it’s the secret sauce of recovery, I would say,” Swick said. 
That is overcoming life obstacles with the ones you love.