Contribution to Soldier On

Heroes Remember

Contribution to Soldier On

Transcript

I wanted to serve my country as much as I could. I ended up going in and the natural progression for an officer is really to do a staff job and there’s a lot of it in Ottawa and I wanted to move to Ottawa so I got posted into a position into Ottawa and I stayed there for seven years before I was offered the job with Soldier On. And, you know, I moved over there as a serving member, as a major to Soldier On and I could use my experience of what I went through being wounded in Afghanistan and help other ill and injured members through their recovery. I never could say that I can relate exactly to what they are going through but I’ve gone through my own challenges and I can help those individuals, you know, challenge themselves and be inspired and use sport as part of their recovery so I have been doing that for the last six years now. Soldier On has been around for ten years. It is picking up in popularity and it’s open for both serving members and retired members to take part of. Now sport, it’s really the vehicle for other things. At the end of the day I really believe it’s not about the actual sports but that’s the vehicle that we use to get ill and injured members connected. So we run the program and the first one is contacting ill and injured members and getting them to the program. This is the first challenge that we have. The second one, what we do is we run approximately sixty sport camps a year across the country internationally and regionally and those are meant to inspire and prove to people that one, yes your life has changed and there’s certain things that you can’t do exactly the same but you still can do them. There’s still the ability to do them. And the second one is that they are not alone so they are there with like-minded people that have gone, they have things in common like everybody served their country proudly and they’ve all been dramatically, their lives have been dramatically changed from their service. So those two things kind of, there’s an instant bond when they come to Soldier On and when you are wounded you are kind of set aside in isolation and have been told, okay go get better, go recover. We still have a task to do in the military and we need to do that but you need to go get better so you can re-join us or transition out. But that’s an isolating area to be in. It’s tough for a lot of injured members to be all of a sudden gung-ho, course loaded on all these courses, doing really well progression and all of a sudden they get injured and they can’t do that stuff anymore. So they’re down, that unknown is there from the injured member and they think what happens, am I going to be able to stay in the military, were these nightmares and terrors and sweats, are they going to last. How long, what’s going to happen to me? Am I going to fully recover or, all these unknowns. Soldier On is one of those things that can bring those people back together, they can talk about different strategies that they use and they can really have the feeling that, you know, I’m not alone because there are other people that have these challenges. Solider On itself can prove to the ill and injured community that they’re not alone because there’s Soldier On, there’s other programs out there that if you are willing to accept the help they’re here to help you get through those challenges.

Description

Accepting a position with Soldier On, Major Feyko tells about how it motivates him and how he supports other Veterans.

Jay Feyko

Mr. Jay Feyko was born April 25, 1973 in Windsor, Ontario. While attending Trenton University, unsure of his future, Mr. Feyko decided to join the military under a three year contract with the Canadian Forces. After having the opportunity to be honour guard in commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, his inspiration for those who served before him led him to the decision to remain in the military. Joining as private under the 3rd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment, Infantry Division, Mr. Feyko deployed to Afghanistan under Operation Roto O holding rank of platoon commander. He was medically discharge and rose to the rank of major. Deployment to Afghanistan resulted in a severe injury when he became wounded after a suicide bomber detonated the vehicle he was travelling in. Not allowing his injuries to change his lifestyle, Mr. Feyko carried on with his career, accepting a position as senior manager of Soldier On where he continues present day in supporting and assisting other Veterans with challenges in life. Mr. Feyko was medically discharged from the Canadian military in June 2016 and continues to advocate for the needs of his fellow comrades. Mr. Feyko now resides in Ottawa, Ontario with his wife and children.

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