Air Force veteran finds ‘silver lining’ in face of trauma

By Elizabeth DePompei

After sustaining a life-altering traumatic brain injury in 2021, Air Force veteran Jeana Tremblett thought, “there’s got to be a silver lining.”

She doesn’t remember much about the night her husband found her on the floor, but she would later learn she sustained a cracked skull and eye sockets. Jeana said the injuries changed how her brain works, with balance and depth perception being two of the biggest struggles.

On top of that, she was coming out of a difficult few years. During the pandemic and the sedentary isolation that came with it, Jeana was confronted with something that up until then she had largely stuffed away: post-traumatic stress from military sexual assault.

“It all came to a head,” she said.

Following the brain injury in 2021, Jeana spent a month at the San Antonio Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center in Texas. That’s when she found the upside to an otherwise terrible situation.

“The silver lining is adaptive sports,” she said.

Jeana started with a recumbent bicycle that allowed her to safely enjoy a new activity and “be just like everybody else.” She eventually found her way to events like the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic and the National Disabled Veterans Golf Clinic, both co-presented with DAV (Disabled American Veterans). Just a few weeks ago, she was preparing to surf for the first time during the VA’s summer sports clinic.

“I have gotten to do things that I was hesitant to do before,” she said. “Adaptive sports has proved that I can still try anything.”

Jeana added that the VA staff and volunteers meet you where you’re at, regardless of a veteran’s experience level or what challenges their disability presents.

“You don't have to be perfect to start with,” she said. “You just have to be there.”

In addition to being physically rehabilitative, Jeana said adaptive sports have given her more tools to cope with her PTSD symptoms.

“It's given me another set of things that I can do,” she said. “So while we're here at an adaptive sports event, we're also learning meditation and yoga and Tai Chi – all the things that you can use to calm your mind or temper what your mind is deciding to do.

“It’s very freeing.”