(upbeat music) - [Ian] Something was going to give us all the willies.

and then next thing I know it wasn't actual bright light, but I saw the bright light and got put on my back.

And all I can think of is, "What just happened?"

- [Narrator] A volunteer drove to rescue the injured bird and brought her to the center's clinic where she was patient number 361 admitted in 2021.

(upbeat music) - [Female] Funding for this program was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

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(soft music) - We were walking through a bizarre, which is a typical local trading area in Afghanistan.

And I remember we were all talkin' about how creepy it felt, like the streets were dead, nothing was going on.

Is about like two, three in the morning which is shimmy.

It's typical for a whole lot of people would go on, but something was going to give us all the willies.

And then next thing I know there wasn't actual bright light, but I saw the bright light and got put on my back and all I can think of is, "What just happened?"

(soft music) Our communication sergeant behind me was telling them not to go near me because there could be a follow-on explosion from the IED that detonated, which is what hit me.

But our medic, bless his heart, was like, "Nah, I don't care about explosions.

I'm gonna go save this guy."

And I had about maybe a two minute conversation with him before he dragged me up to kingdom come and then I woke up about a month later in Walter Reed down in Bethesda Maryland.

- [Narrator] Us Army Sergeant Ian Ives was conscious but heavily sedated.

So he doesn't remember much about the month after the IED exploded on October six, 2019.

He was flown by helicopter to Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he immediately went into surgery and his arm was amputated.

Concerned that Ian would not survive infections, the army flew him to Germany to be stabilized.

Then to Walter Reed, Bethesda.

- My wife got a call pretty soon after.

She was absolutely distraught, but my wife's also in the military.

So the military mindset kicked in of, "Okay, he's coming back home.

So that means he's in bad shape, but he's not gonna die."

- [Narrator] Ian's wife, Baca found childcare for their baby daughter, then flew to be at his side at Walter Reed where he underwent more than 30 surgeries before regaining awareness of his surroundings.

His first reaction wasn't concerned about his injuries.

- To be honest, I was more irritated the fact that I wasn't in Afghanistan anymore.

My team, my brothers, the guys who are lifelong friends of mine are still over there.

I didn't know if they're hurt or what was wrong with them.

Maybe that was my immediate concern is, "Why am I here, why am I not back in Afghanistan?"

Apparently I had a conversation with someone when I was in Kandahar immediately after my injury where I was like, "I'll be fine.

Don't call my wife.

She doesn't need to know about this.

I'm gonna recover here.

I'm gonna go back on a mission.

It's gonna be okay."

And they're like, "No dude, (chuckles) we gotta send you home."

(soft music) The frustration with missing a limb didn't come until I was a little bit more coherent, a little bit more active.

Came to terms that pretty easy and I mean, the staff of Walter Reed was super supportive and very encouraging.

Like, "Hey, you lost an arm, but there's prosthetics.

You can get a new arm.

You're still gonna be able to do the stuff you have to do.

It's gonna be hard, but you'll learn how to do things."

I think I actually got to Walter Reed, October 10th of 2019, and then I completely checked out, was no longer in care of Walter Reed by May of 2020.

So pretty quick recovery.

I was right-handed but had to adapt, but my wife made it easy.

While I was sitting in the hospital bed, she would bring me coloring books and be like, "Learn how to write, color, keep inside the lines."

(Ian laughs) Don't have the greatest handwriting, but I have legible handwriting and I could reasonably take notes and stuff like that.

So I'm getting pretty adept with my left hand.

(soft music) - [Narrator] Before he lost an arm and sight in his right eye, Ian was a Combat Camera Sergeant who documented his units military activities.

Left-handed camera's weren't available.

So Ian's job changed to desk work matching Junior Combat Camera Soldiers with special forces teams.

Ian had also been an avid hunter and angler, growing up in Cuba, Missouri, but after he was injured, he needed specialized gear for outdoor sports.

Last spring, a Lake Crystal couple reached out to him through the Fallen Outdoors.

Chris Anderson and her husband, Justin had a custom made rod and reel that can be operated with one arm.

It belonged to Chris's dad, David Abel, who passed away the previous fall.

In 1984, David was driving near Sherburn, Minnesota when a car hit him head on, causing a severe stroke and seizure.

- Because of that, he was paralyzed on his right side and had some speech issues.

He wasn't able to drive, wasn't able to work.

Really wasn't able to do anything.

Delirium therapy for both mobility, he was able to get walking back.

He could raise his right arm, but he could not use it in any other way.

He was able to get his license so he could drive and from there he just took off.

If he wanted to go fishing, he went fishing.

If he wanted to go four-wheeling, he went four-wheeling.

He figured out how he could go hunting.

He figured out how he could drive a boat or he would go on vacations and trips.

He did not let anything slow him down.

He, 100%, was all in.

He loved to fish.

Well, as we all know, fishing can be a two-handed sport.

So because he loved to fish, we wanted to help him get back into the boat.

My husband found a rod that was a mechanical rod.

You cast one-handed, it's got a button so that you can reel it in one-handed.

We were able to give it to my dad for Christmas one year and he was very excited about it.

He used it several times and was very excited to be back out on the water with it.

My dad ended up in January of 2018, going into hospice care.

He had some heart issues.

He had some lung issues.

He was going through the things that he had, knowing that he wasn't gonna be with us much longer and found this real and ask what we thought we could do with it.

So sitting with my husband and my dad, we decided that we wanted to find somebody who would get use out of it.

- Justin Anderson reached out to me back last fall and it was a interesting situation 'cause he had a very sentimental donation.

I reached out through our network and that was how I found Staff Sergeant Ives.

He was a perfect candidate for what he was looking for and I reached out to him.

He was super excited.

It was exactly what we were looking for 'cause the donor wanted somebody who had lost the ability to fish more or less than he wanted to give them the opportunity to get back out there.

- [Narrator] The Fallen Outdoors is a national volunteer organization that facilitates hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities for current and former military members.

- The events are as simple as I got an extra seat in my boat this weekend if you wanna come along.

And what it helps do is one, it gets the vets out for a really good time, something enjoyable to remember.

And two, it helps build connections within their area and everything and give them people to hang out with and talk with.

And since we were started in 2009, we've gotten over a hundred thousand vets out in the Outdoors on trips.

Mental health is obviously the major portion of what our organization is for.

That's where our goal is, is to help fight the depression and suicide.

- [Narrator] The Fallen Outdoors flew Ian from Washington state where he was stationed to Minnesota.

After the Anderson family presented the rod and reel to Ian at Chaska Veterans park, Justin showed him how to operate it.

- We got everything set up, got two different speeds.

You push in for one and then push down a little bit harder.

It'll go a little bit quicker on the retro.

Again, just got the trigger for casting.

Give it a wing and let her go.

She way she goes, just like any other rod, so... - All right, cool.

So let's give you a try.

Unhook you maybe.

There we go, oh.

(fishing rod thrumming) (soft music) (fishing rod thrumming) - [Justin] Looks good - Here we go, yeah, yeah.

I think the key is hitting that reel while it's... Once you get out as far as you want.

- [Justin] Yeah, yap, yeah.

'Cause that's how to set the hook.

Especially if you might be bobber fishing with it some day.

- Oh, yeah.

- [Justin] Whatever it's, who knows?

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] The next day, Isaac took Ian wildlife fishing on Mille Lacs to try out the new rod and reel.

- Just drifting with some (indistinct) eggs and leeches and minnows and hoping to pick up a walleye.

Nothing else, maybe we'll get some small mouth.

Big lake, lots of fish.

They're here somewhere.

(Isaac and Ian laugh) I don't know what I got.

Oh, a nice walleye.

- Oh boy.

(upbeat music) It's a good start.

- [Ian] Oh yeah.

You get one right off the bed like that.

At least you know they're here and they're biting.

- This lake is massive.

I mean, Lake of the Ozarks is inherently a pretty big lake, but no, I think Mille Lacs has got it beat.

Oh, it's pretty nice.

I really have to... And be a little conscious that I don't have a actual reel, the reel hand.

It almost feels like it's going to be too easy if I actually ever get a fish on the hook.

Just press the button and just auto reel it in.

(Ian chuckles) But it's still fun.

It's a cool setup and have a lot of fun with it.

Really excited to see how it's gonna handle after I actually get a fish on the line.

- [Narrator] Well, fishing for walleye, the current and former serviceman talk to their shared experiences and the new community that opened up to Ian after he was injured.

- I really hadn't met any guys who had lost a limb or lost eye sight or anything like that until I got injured myself and then it's like, they all came out of the woodwork.

So that is a cool thing.

We got good little community.

- [Narrator] While Ian was in the hospital, he was visited by injured veterans, including Dan Crenshaw.

A Houston Congressman who lost an eye from an IED explosion in Afghanistan.

- Dan Crenshaw is a good guy.

He's really cool.

He's also really cool and my wife hit him with a, "Yeah, my husband's a big of yours, but he's a really big fan of Joe Rogan.

And I know you know Joe Rogan, can you make something happen with that?"

And I mean, to his credit, he did.

He ended up getting Joe to record a little video for me.

Now I got this cool little video from Joe Rogan.

(water burbling) - Nice.

- [Narrator] Well, Isaac hooked a couple of nice walleyes, Ian didn't see any action that day at Mille Lacs.

But the man who lost a limb in service to his country, gain new friends, a rod, and a way to connect with the healing power of the Outdoors.

- Military guys y'all have the... Share that culture and everything else and you got the same sense of humor.

Then there's also that almost immediate comradery.

'Cause even if you hadn't necessarily served together, you at least have a good understanding, the suck that person went through.

- Right.

- If I could do it all over again, I would.

I absolutely love serving my country.

I love doing my job.

If I could regrow my arm back, I would continue to do it.

(upbeat music) (dramatic music) - [Narrator] On June 23rd, a call came into the Raptor Center in St. Paul, that an Eagle had been hit by a car near Lester Prairie.

A volunteer drove to rescue the injured bird and brought her to the center's clinic where she was patient number 361 admitted in 2021.

(dramatic music) - What we're doing with them is stressful.

They don't understand that we're trying to help them, like calming voices are not calming to them.

So we do our best to limit their stress as much as possible.

First thing I'm gonna do is do an eye exam.

So I'm just gonna slowly grab her head and get this fluff off her head.

So if I move slow and steady, it's less scary for her.

Vision is so important to these rafters.

It's one of their main adaptations for their lifestyle.

The retina, the part of her eye that she uses to actually see is just fine.

So she just has a little bit of blood that'll absorb and that'll be fine.

Same on this side, she's got a little bit of blood, but the important parts look good.

So that's easier to do when they're awake.

The rest of her exam I can do while she's under anesthesia and that'll be less stressful for her.

You are tough to intubate, sweetheart.

Good girl.

(eagle whistling) All right.

She's moving, but she's not fully aware right now.

So she's gonna get this pain medication injection right into her muscle so it'll work quickly.

So right now I'm doing a complete physical exam.

So I'm checking her soft tissues, her bones, her internal structures.

See what could have been injured by being hit by the car.

It's most common, commonly a complete accident because they are eating roadkill on the side of the road and then they get spooked by the car and start flying up and they're full of food.

So they can't get lift that fast and they accidentally run right into the car.

So good news, so far I don't feel anything broken.

We're gonna take x-rays to make sure.

- [Narrator] The x-ray showed internal trauma and she was kept in patient care, then flight rehabilitation, until she was released on August 6th at the Carpenter Nature Center near Hastings.

(upbeat music) - We are the Mayo Clinic for raptors.

Probably the most common injury I would say, would be either a fractured wing or head trauma, because a lot of birds collide with things.

If these birds collide with cars, they'll hit people's windows.

They even collide with power lines sometimes.

A lot of our birds are from an urban area.

- Though we are able to release approximately 1/3 of the birds that come in here.

About 2/3s end up being euthanized either on admission or we attempt to treat them, but they don't make it to release.

If we wanna release the bird back into the wild, they need to able to fly perfectly.

They can't have arthritis or an injury that's gonna cause them long-term pain because they won't be able to move around well.

and they won't have someone to give them pain medications out in the wild.

They have to be able to breed.

They have to be able to migrate if they're a migratory species.

Something else that we see is people find a baby raptor who fell out of the nest, it's really young and they don't know that wildlife rehabilitation is a thing or they don't...

They think the best thing to do is to take it home and take care of it.

And what can happen is that bird is in a very young age where it's still learning who it is in the world and what it's job is.

And it ends up thinking it's a human.

So it becomes imprinted on humans who are habituated to people.

So we have some education birds here, that's their permanent injury.

It's not an injury.

It's a mental injury I guess.

(soft music) - [Narrator] The Raptor Center was co-founded by UFM College of Veterinary Medicine, professors, Patrick Redig and Gary Duke.

Who started treating injured birds in the 1970s.

In 1989, Laurie Aron was studying avian physiology under Dr. Duke when she started volunteering at the Raptor Center on weekends.

- So we had a flight hall that was about 60 feet long.

And I came up with a system where we built purchase and we put them on each end and we would recondition the birds because they needed to be strong enough after they were healed.

(soft music) Pretty early on in the program's development, we realized that in order to have the biggest impact, we also needed to share these birds messages with the public.

We saw these birds that were coming in, birds were still being shot.

They were being poisoned.

People were deliberately affecting these birds and so we really felt that it was important to get the message out.

Why are these birds valuable to the environment?

How can you change your behavior to live with these birds, cohabitate with them more peacefully and yet provide them what they need to live because they do provide a valuable service?

And then we realized one very effective tool that we had was the birds themselves.

(upbeat music) So we would evaluate some of the birds that were not releasable and we would decide if they would make good educational ambassadors.

Were meaning that they would tolerate people well and have a high quality of life at the same time.

- So we go in and would feed them and care for them and then they go and they educate the public.

So they go off-site, we go into schools and theaters and festivals and all sorts of different settings to use the power of the live bird to educate and inspire the public.

Max came to us in her hatch year.

So her first year of life and she had a dislocated elbow in her wing, she also had lead poisoning.

And once we healed up the elbow and treated the lead poisoning, she couldn't fly well enough to be able to survive in the wild.

And she has the right mental attitude to become part of the team.

So for the last 22 years, she has been a valuable part of the team, educating people about bald eagles.

We see eagles coming in with lead poisoning because they're scavengers and they scavenge on carcasses, most likely deer carcasses that have been shot with lead ammunition.

So when people feel dress these carcasses and leave the gut piles in the woods, that is a feast for a bald eagle.

Unfortunately, just half a centimeter to a centimeter of lead is enough to cause a severe poisoning of these guys and they come in.

85 to 90% of the eagles that come in here do have some level of lead in their blood.

So we know this is a huge problem.

Max has a six foot wingspan, but only weighs about 11 pounds.

Now the females are larger than the males, but everything about her body is built for flight.

So some of her bones are hollow and she's at lighter weight so that she can get off the ground.

Eagles when they're hatched have that brown head and the brown eyes and the brown beak.

And over time, it gradually changes into that classic white head that we see.

(eagle whistling) (upbeat music) - All right.

So when we're retrieving a bird, main thing that we do is making sure that they're choosing to participate.

So all of the birds have a cue that we use to indicate what I would like for them to do, so they know that they're gonna get food for doing it.

This is Palisade, one of our resident peregrine falcons.

She's actually two years old this year.

So peregrine falcons are really exciting species to be able to bring to classrooms and events, things like that.

Because they are actually the fastest species of animal in the entire world.

They hunt other birds and they do it by dive bombing.

So they fly up very high and they have these very long pointy wings, very long narrow tail, that makes this excellent aerodynamic shape.

So they'll fly up high, look at birds flying below them and then dive down towards them in what's called a stoop.

And while they're doing this dive, they can go over 200 miles per hour.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] After World War II, when the insecticide DDT wiped out the Midwest's peregrine population, Patrick Redig worked with the Midwest Peregrine Society to reintroduce them in the 1970s.

Their population is now higher than before DDT was used.

Palisade was raised in captivity by her parents, is part of a breeding program to replenish the falcon population in other parts of the US.

Funding for the Raptor Center's ambassador and educational programs, comes from both private and public sources, including the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

The clinic's funding comes exclusively from donations.

- The Raptor Center relies on philanthropy.

So it's the support of the community that pays most of our budget.

Our birds are not the best at paying their veterinary bills.

Because we have an opportunity when we see these birds and we have these stories from our clinic.

To then make a difference, whether it's research on how to better treat them, whether it's public outreach, like trying to get folks to switch to non-lead ammunition when they're deer hunting to protect against lead toxicity.

Doing things to protect their windows against window strikes.

Really being able to take the frustrating reasons these birds are coming in and turn it into a story that we can tell it to educate, excite the public to make a difference in the world.

(soft music) (upbeat music) - [Female] Funding for this program was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

SafeBasements of Minnesota, your basement, waterproofing and foundation repair specialist since 1990.

Peace of mind is a safe basement.

Live Wide Open.

The more people know about West Central Minnesota, the more reasons they have to live here, more at livewideopen.com.

Western Minnesota Prairie waters, where peace, relaxation and opportunities await.

(air whooshing) - You also have fish.

We've also made some fun frozen enrichment toys for the summer for the hot temperatures.

So that's the freezer and then the refrigerator is where we will thaw the food overnight.

So we had like a band full of things that are thawing and then while leftovers food that for birds that are maybe doing things later at night, stuff like that.