OKEECHOBEE — X-22 Adventures is a non-profit organization founded by veteran Steve Cone in order to help curb the suicide rate of veterans and public safety personnel through social interaction in the great outdoors.

Veteran Cone was featured in last week’s story, so those of you who read his story know he hit rock bottom and at one point actually attempted suicide. When he got to the place where he felt strong enough to reach out and help other veterans, he decided the name would be X-22, because, he said, “Every day 22 veterans take their own lives. If I can help save one. It will mean the world to me.” The X in X-22 is to X out the 22, get rid of it, he explained.

After Cone had his leg amputated, he was lying in his hospital bed, listening to the podcast of a friend who helps veterans with PTSD and depression. They go out hiking and climbing mountains. Right now, they are doing the top 50. They are going to all 50 states and climbing the highest peak. He and all the veterans who climbed with him have issues of one type or other, but they all got to experience something together that they might never have done if it weren’t for the non-profit group.

There’s something about experiencing good things with other veterans that helps you to get past the bad memories, he said. Each time you talk about the trauma, the bad things while you are doing something like climbing a mountain or going fishing, it helps. It makes you happy instead of miserable.

When Cone told his friend he was thinking of starting his own non-profit and taking veterans fishing, his friend said, “You need to do it.” They talked about it for about four months, and finally he decided he needed to do it. His friend said, “You have the opportunity. It’s fishing paradise down there.”

Cone believes because of all the things he has gone through — time in the service, time as a firefighter, injury on the job, multiple surgeries, addiction to pain killers, divorce, homelessness and the eventual loss of his leg and a sexual assault as a child, he can relate to almost anything the other veterans can throw at him.

“I believe if I can get them out on the water and get them talking, it will help them the way it helps me.”

Cone’s partner in this endeavor is fellow veteran Randy Tucker. On their first official trip, they plan to travel from Jacksonville to Pensacola in a 22-foot boat. They will be traveling in the ocean, far enough out so they won’t be able to see land he explained. They want to bring awareness to the public about the prevalence of PTSD and suicide in the veteran and public safety communities. They will have two people on the boat with them at all times, a veteran and or public safety personnel. They will make 22 stops along the route all the way around Florida. There will be four major stops — Martin County, the Keys, Crystal River and finally, Eglin Air Force Base.

He has a lot of plans for exciting adventures along the way. Tentatively, they plan to get started on Feb. 22, 2021.

There will have been a total of 44 people on the boat by the time they return home.

It is his hope to do this at least once a year.

They include public safety workers in their adventures because Cone was a firefighter, and because about 60% of retired military go into that field, he said.

To check out what they are doing or to sign up, go to X-22adventures.org.

Follow this link, https://southcentralfloridalife.com/okeechobee/stories/randy-tucker-has-a-heart-for-veterans,4608?, to read more about Randy Tucker.

Follow this  link, https://southcentralfloridalife.com/okeechobee/stories/veteran-steve-cone-had-a-varied-career,13391, to read last week's veteran's story featuring Steve Cone.