Art Therapy Effective Tool for U.S. Air Force Veteran in Both Smoking Cessation and Pain Reduction

WINCHESTER, Calif., May 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Vietnam veteran David Hartman of Mound, Minnesota is lucky to be alive.  He survived an overseas battlefield, exposure to Agent Orange and, after returning home, being hit by a car while riding a bicycle.  But not even the collision itself could take Hartman's life – it was a seemingly innocuous injury from the accident that almost ended him.

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Initially, Hartman tended to his wound, a right hand laceration, by himself.  But after a few days he said, "I woke up and my hand was three times its normal size, so I went to the VA in Minneapolis."

His hand had become badly infected, requiring surgery.  "Not only did I nearly lose my arm, I very nearly lost my life," said Hartman.

During his hospitalization, Hartman noticed other veterans working on arts & crafts kits.  The kits, provided for free by nonprofit organization Help Hospitalized Veterans, are for veteran and military patients to use while recovering both physical and emotional wounds.

"I only had use of one hand, but I was bored and needed something to do," said Hartman.  "My pain was severe, but watching television and reading weren't helping.  I decided to try a leather project and used my right elbow to hold the kit down while I stitched with my other hand," he said.  "Right away, that leather kit lit a fire in me.  I finished it and wanted to do another."

"When I was working on a craft kit, I noticed that I became so focused on it that I didn't have any pain," Hartman said.  "As my hand got better I did more kits."

"I even started doing research on leather stitching and have actually become good at it," Hartman added.

In addition to the therapeutic benefits of healing Hartman found through working on arts & crafts, he discovered a way to give back to other veterans in the same situation he had been in by volunteering at his local VA medical center.

"I love helping other veterans with their crafts.  It helps me as much as it helps them."  Hartman said that there was another "incredible benefit" of working on the arts and crafts that he didn't realize at first.  At the time of the accident, Hartman was smoking two to three packs of cigarettes a day.

"After I started doing crafts, I noticed the more I created the less I smoked.  It wasn't anything intentional; it was just that when I worked on crafts I wasn't thinking about smoking."

Hartman urges other veterans suffering from pain or wishing to get their minds off of a smoking habit to try the amazing benefits of working on arts and craft kits from Help Hospitalized Veterans (HHV).

Since 1971, HHV has donated over 28 million kits to veteran and military patients worldwide.  For more information about receiving HHV arts & crafts kits, visit hhv.org or call toll-free, (888) 567-VETS.

Contact:
Frank Cimorelli
928-848-7803
[email protected]

SOURCE Help Hospitalized Veterans