Stefan Struve, Titan FC team up for fishing excursion with U.S. military veterans
There has always been a strong bond between the military and the world of mixed martial arts and that's why Titan Fighting Championships COO Lex McMahon has worked so tirelessly to cultivate that relationship while helping veterans through a series of excursions of the years.
In coordination with AHero Foundation, McMahon has scheduled numerous outings involving veterans along with several notable mixed martial artists who have joined them as special guests.
Most recently, McMahon teamed up with UFC heavyweight Stefan Struve to take six veterans on a sport fishing trip in the Florida Keys.
Now that might sound like a vacation to most, for many of the veterans who are invited to attend these outings, it's a chance to connect with fellow soldiers and sometimes it's exactly what they need to save their lives.
"I think that's the essence of this whole thing is just peer-to-peer counseling where the whole premise behind AHero is you take guys who are having a difficult time and dealing with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and all these other injuries and you put them with their peers so they can start to heal each other and you put them in a fun environment where it's easier to open up," McMahon told FOX Sports when speaking about the latest outing. "That's why we figured something like fishing and having a UFC fighter would help create that atmosphere."
Struve, who grew up in Holland and not the United States, didn't seem like the most obvious choice at first when it came to fighters willing to donate time to spend with American military veterans, but he jumped at the chance to help.
The seven-foot tall heavyweight veteran was invited to join the excursion and it didn't take him long to become friends with the five former Marines and former Navy SEAL who joined him on the fishing trip.
Before long, Struve felt just how powerful and important this kind of outing could be for some of the military veterans who needed a chance to commune with fellow soldiers as well as find a safe place to talk about troubles they've faced since serving active duty across the world.
"It was the first time I've done something like this. It was really good to hang out with them and they were all really great guys and they needed a break. I hope to be doing stuff like this a lot more," Struve said.
"I've had some setbacks in my career and you struggle with it so I can only imagine what they go through with what they've experienced. They deal with this every, single day after that. I really enjoyed hanging out with them and the things they were telling me, I learned a lot from that. I was just really happy to help. It was really fun."
McMahon has done several of these trips in coordination with AHero and thanks to companies like Salt Armour, who outfitted the veterans with gear, as well as Skeleton Optics, who provided everyone with sunglasses and partners such as CaribSea and the La Siesta Resorts in Islamorada, Florida, he hopes to continue these kinds of excursions for veterans for many years to come.
While every experience is new and different, McMahon relayed a particular story about one veteran who joined the fishing trip this time around and how it literally saved his life. It's these kinds of tales that let McMahon and his business partners know that these trips and activities for the former soldiers are crucial and why they must exist.
"We had one guy who had a very difficult time in both Iraq and Afghanistan and he was a crew chief and he watched his teammates fly out of the back of the airplane when the plane was under fire and the guys were tethered in and unfortunately they died. He comes home and he starts self-medicating and his 20-year marriage falls apart and his wife is leaving him. That happened two days before we told him he was going to be going on the trip," McMahon revealed.
"When we told him he was going to be going on the trip, he broke down crying. He was like 'I was literally going to kill myself this weekend, I was at the point where I couldn't take it anymore and this was too much, I was already mentally preparing for it and you guys saved my life'. That's what this is all about."
McMahon, who is a military veteran himself, says the camaraderie experienced on one of these trips between the soldiers as well as the sense of community shared with a fighter like Struve really can make all the difference for these guys.
"One thing that's a commonality that I always try to communicate on these trips is one, that they're loved, and that's a hard thing for guys to say to one another often times. Especially the alpha male types you see in the military," McMahon said. "But a lot of them are wandering lost after the military.
"The second component is paying it forward because after they have this experience, they have to help their fellow vets. It's really about going back to that peer-to-peer counseling and helping each other."
Hearing the story about that particular Marine or a Navy SEAL who made the trip this time around, who really struggled to open up about his experiences on the battlefield until he was around some fellow soldiers dealing with the same post traumatic stress issues is why McMahon makes these trips such a priority.
"It's those sorts of things that make it all worth while," McMahon said.
It was a first time experience for Struve and he said it's something he'll never forget for the rest of his life.
In fact, Struve has already committed to doing more outings with the veterans in the future as well as volunteering in other ways to help the U.S. veterans in any way possible.
"It was a great experience and hopefully I'll be able to do something with seminars and help do some more things to raise money as well," Struve said. "I was definitely surprised when I heard some of the stories and how they needed help and there's basically nothing out there. They put so much on the line and they sacrifice everything and they come back and there's nothing left.
"It doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't make any sense at all."
For more information on the work McMahon, Titan Fighting and their partners are doing, check out AHeroUSA.com.
