Janna Sherrill started Xsports4vets in 2010 as a doctorate project. Four years earlier she attempted to convince her stepbrother--a month home from Iraq--to seek treatment for his 'daymares'. In the process she shared her own battle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He promised to seek help if the symptoms got worse. A year and a half later he was gone.

Janna channeled her grief and feelings of guilt for not knowing how to better support her stepbrother into studying PTSD, cutting edge treatments and the barriers that keep veterans from seeking assistance. While completing interviews on the factors that support veterans and their family members through the reintegration process she encountered Jesse Scollin. He recounted how the sport of riverboarding made him want to be alive again. His story resonated with her own experiences rock climbing. Afraid of heights she first learned how to control her pounding heart, sweaty palms and mind numbing fear on the rock face--slowing everything down to focus on making the next move. A technique that helped her begin to master her own symptoms of PTSD just enough to stop fearing and avoiding the situations that brought them on. A critical discovery on her personal journey with the disorder.

Janna and Jesse partnered to create Xsports4vets and run a pilot riverboarding course for combat veterans that combined elements of successful PTSD and reintegration treatment programs. The veterans and river guides who participated talked them into keeping it going. With participant volunteers and help from the Montana River Guides and the Missoula Vet Center, Xsports4vets took on a life of its own. Xsports4vets now operates every season in multiple, adrenaline pumping sports. It's open to any veteran who deployed to an area of eminent danger to help with the stress of returning home. The band of volunteers that keep it running include veterans, their family members, civilians and multiple organizations throughout Missoula.