Whole Health

Army Veteran Jim Bedingfield can now participate in long-distance biking and other sports like skiing and golf because of VA’s Spinal Cord Injury Unit.

Adapting to suffering and loss with support of VA

Retired Army Colonel Jim Bedingfield is familiar with suffering. He’s been paralyzed from the neck down, hit by a car, and lost his daughter to a brain tumor. These experiences paved the way for finding the support he needed at VA.

“The good news of being hit by a car on a bike? It put me on a good path to get much more holistic health care with the VA, including the depth of care from the Spinal Cord Injury unit,” Bedingfield said.

Working his way back from paralysis

During a deployment to Guantanamo in 1994, a fall left him unable to use his arms and legs. “My back had been giving me some issues for a year and change, so I knew something was wrong but deployed anyway … then I took a bad fall, and I was paralyzed from the neck down,” Bedingfield explained.

After spending a year relearning how to walk and use his arms and hands, Bedingfield was able to continue to serve until his retirement in 2007 — and to get back to riding his bike, which leads to the rest of the story.

Enter VA health care

In 2021, Bedingfield was at the end of a 25-mile ride when he was hit by a car. The accident led him to the Bedford VA Medical Center and then the VA Boston Healthcare System, where he accessed the Spinal Cord Injury Unit, recreation therapy, adaptive sports, yoga, tai chi, and Whole Health.

His VA team fit him for a functional electrical stimulation device for both legs. The device, combined with physical and recreation therapy at VA, was a game changer. (See his interview with a local television station here.) 

“But then what really got me hooked is the ability to do things that I had never thought I’d be able to do like skiing, downhill mountain biking, even golf,” he said.

Healing the body and the mind

Bedingfield’s mind also needed healing. His daughter was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and passed away in 2021. “I had a lot of pressure on me. I was very much trying to provide and do so many things for so many people, and the guy I was leaving out in the process was me, my own mental health, and my own physical health. It was a pretty tough time,” he said.

Processing the loss of his daughter with support from VA mental health services helped Bedingfield cope. “I think it's important to realize the ability of the mind. If you can get it to a better place, it will have a positive effect on your body,” he said.

Veterans deserve Whole Health

Bedingfield encourages fellow Veterans to take advantage of VA services like Whole Health. “If I had realized what VA could do, I would have done that years ago.

“Many Veterans say, ‘I don’t have a need great enough to get help.’ You do need and you do deserve the help. It’s what’s due to you, and there’s no there’s no shame in taking it. In fact, the shame is if you don’t take it,” Bedingfield said.  

To find out about Whole Health services near you, contact your local facility.