Sean C. Morgan
Gerritt Schaffer’s legs don’t function correctly, but that didn’t stop him from joining an old friend for some drift boat fishing on the South Santiam River earlier this month.
Former Sweet Home resident Todd Logan returned just to take Schaffer fishing a couple of weeks ago. He and Greg Goodell of Shady Cove helped load Schaffer onto their Willie Boat and handed Schaffer the oars.
Logan’s and Goodell’s guide service, Adaptive Excursions, is aimed at getting people with disabilities, particularly veterans, onto the rivers for fishing, bird watching or just to enjoy the scenery.
Logan’s been there. He lost his right leg a little more than a year ago due to complications from a birth defect, and fishing saved his life.
Adaptive Excursions uses a boat built and owned by Willie Boats and dedicated to Logan’s goal.
Schaffer suffered a spinal cord injury April 6 in a dirt bike crash in La Pine. He has been out of the hospital for about two months.
He doesn’t know whether he’ll walk again, Schaffer said. He’s seen videos of people confined to a wheelchair for eight months get up and walk. He’s hopeful, but he’s not waiting for that to happen before he gets active. He needs to work on building up the strength in his back, and he’s already been lifting weights, something a therapist told him he wouldn’t be able to do again.
“They called and said, ‘We’re coming to pick you up and take you down the river,’” said Schaffer during the July 14 excursion, just two weeks after having his back brace removed. “To be able to do this is what propels you mentally and gives you the confidence you can do it.”
Logan said he usually uses a prosthetic leg, but when his leg is sore, he’ll use his wheelchair.
The boat is designed with a raised deck and brackets to hold Logan’s chair and a client’s, allowing them a view over the bow.
While providing full guide services, Adaptive Excursions especially aims to take wounded veterans in smaller communities fishing as a way to give back, Logan said, but “this boat’s for everybody. Willie Boats built this boat to change people’s lives.”
Logan said he had been following Schaffer’s story on Facebook “because we’re friends,” and he quickly realized he needed to get Schaffer out on the boat.
“It was important to us because I know how powerful the river is,” Logan said. For a split second, while out on the river, “you forget what you’re wearing.”
When his leg was amputated, two things helped Logan bounce back, he said: support from his fiance, Misty, and friend Goodell, and fishing.
“It changed my life,” Logan said. “That’s why I do as good as I do on my leg.”
A wheelchair isn’t a real obstacle either. Schaffer pulled his own weight during outings on the boat, taking his turn at the oars.
“People can see Gerritt, two months out of the hospital, rowing in a wheelchair,” Logan said.
Logan doesn’t like the term “disability,” he said.
“The river has always been a big part of my life. I’m not disabled. I need to be a little more adaptive in my conquest. I got my guide license after I lost my leg.”
Schaffer said he shares that mindset.
“The only limitations are the ones we put on ourselves,” he said.
Getting back on the river, he’s taking back a piece of his life. Schaffer had a drift boat before the accident. He had to sell it to help pay medical bills, and that boat wasn’t something he was going to be able to use.
Being out of the hospital and on the river for the first time afterward, on a trip he took with his father, Schaffer said, “was amazing.”
And it pays off for the people in his life too. Schaffer’s wife, Bridget, was smiling that day too.
“When she can get rid of me for a day,” Schaffer quipped.
Adaptive Excursions is running a gofundme.com campaign to help pay for a Northwest Tour beginning in September, with stops in Oregon, Washington and Idaho to rivers known for great fishing opportunities and drift boat accessibility.
Adaptive Excursions will reach out to local businesses and agencies to locate deserving veterans for free guided excursions.
Logan’s goal is $8,500 to pay for the tour. So far, it has raised $1,480. Locate the gofundme.com page by searching for “adopt a wounded/disabled veteran.”
“These injuries impact the family,” he said. “To give Gerritt and his dad back the river that day, it’s the most rewarding job that I’ve ever had.”
“The best part of the whole thing is coming down to the river and seeing friends,” Schaffer said. He took a few by surprise as he traveled the river.
“It’s little things like this that mean so much,” Logan said. “He’s already past that wheelchair.”
Adaptive Excursions may also be found on Facebook or by calling (208) 989-2783.