A tattoo on Special Operations combat veteran Josh Collins’ arm reads “Never Quit.” It was a sentiment tested over and over again by the time he stopped in Wrightsville Beach June 11 on his 3,500-mile paddleboard voyage to New York City from Texas.
Collins undertook the monumental journey to raise awareness for the high suicide rates among veterans and raise money for the organization that helped him cope with the effects of seven traumatic brain injuries and PTSD.
He retired from the army in 2008, his website states, but continued to work with the army as a contractor. In 2013, he sustained another head injury—a major concussion with fractured ribs, nose, and cervical spine compression. He started suffering from headaches, fatigue and disorientation, and on top of his prescribed pills he self-medicated with alcohol.
Then he discovered the Task Force Dagger Foundation, an organization that provides assistance to wounded, ill or injured army members and their families. With their help, Collins underwent three months of traumatic brain injury therapy and began to put his life back together.
But health issues lingered, like vertigo, severe inner ear damage and vision problems. His wife, Tonia, bought him a paddleboard to help him recover some of his athletic lifestyle. Paddling through the water, Collins found more than just physical healing.
On his website, he calls the water his sanctuary, stating, “The horizon holds still because of the subtle movements of the water.”
Collins planned his 3,500-mile paddleboard journey and started out from Corpus Christi, Texas on March 5. He hopes to reach New York City by July 23, but weather has slowed his progress.
Paddling towards Wrightsville Beach June 11, he was drenched by a rainstorm. A passing boater said she felt sorry for his predicament, but Collins told her the storm was “beautiful.”
“The water was nice and cold,” he said.
And the brief period of driving rain was nothing compared to weather he encountered earlier in the trip. In good conditions, he can paddle 35 or 40 miles in a day. But some days, dodging thunderstorms or battling a 30-knot headwind, he could barely manage 15.
Conditions were so rough crossing the Florida Bay that he became hypothermic and had to be pulled into the rescue boat. The boat started taking on water and he became seasick, but his crew wrapped him in blankets, he said, “so at least I was warm.”
Days like that put him behind schedule, he said, but he’s determined to reach New York City as soon as he can. He still falls in the water occasionally, but his tumbles are no longer the result of inexperience, but rather fatigue.
Despite the exhaustion, his body has grown accustomed to full days of paddling. He wears fingerless gloves that protect his hands where he grips the paddle, and each hand is now striped with a distinct tan line.
The lengthy paddles have become routine to the point that “It doesn’t feel as much like a big deal anymore,” he said.
It’s when he encounters others who have been following his voyage that he’s reminded of its significance. Before he started, he plotted rally points at coastal cities along his route and, at each stop so far, he has been greeted by the people his journey has inspired.
When he stepped onto the sand at Wrightsville SUP, four or five families approached, shaking his hand and repeating various versions of “We’re thinking about you,” “We’re following your progress,” and “Thank you so much for what you’re doing.”
Some are military families who understand Collins’ struggles personally. Some, like Wrightsville Beach resident John Wallace, felt they “just had to meet the man who’s doing this.”
While Collins’ followers are inspired by his journey, Collins is likewise motivated by his followers to “Never Quit,” even on days when it feels like the only option.
“I’ll be getting down during the day, and a boat will pull up alongside me with 20 people going ‘woo-hoo!’” he said. “Then I remember why we’re doing this.”
To follow Collins’ progress or donate to the Task Force Dagger Foundation, visit veteranvoyage360.com
