North Texas Green Beret's recovery shines light on TBI treatment for veterans

Imagine never sleeping through the night, struggling to hold down a job, or even lacking the focus to complete everyday tasks.

It’s a reality for hundreds of thousands of men and women who served the nation in Afghanistan and Iraq, including a North Texas Green Beret.

For years, Darrin Beheler, known to friends as “Bo,” knew what it felt like to be at rock bottom.

I was just in a hole. I had gotten myself into a hole that I couldn’t get out of. I wasn’t sleeping. I was in pain constantly.

Darrin Beheler, veteran Green Beret and co-founder of 50 for the Fallen

Throughout his 15-year career in Special Operations, Sgt. First Class Beheler completed 10 deployments, seeing combat in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. They were missions that were hard on both the mind and body.

Beheler said he lost count of the number of times he took a hit to the head.

“I mean, we’re just talking down range, HALO free falls and just 500 plus jumps I had; those were some of the worst crashes I had,” he replied.

He said he still has photos from the time he gouged a Kevlar helmet.

“I was downwind, just basically went feet, knees, head,” he said.

Beheler’s one of the half a million service members the Department of Defense reports has officially been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, or TBI, since 2000, a figure many believe is underestimated.

In 2020, Beheler co-founded 50 for the Fallen, a nonprofit that hosts 50-mile rucks to raise awareness for the invisible wounds so many of his fellow soldiers face.

Still, when it came to his sleeplessness, chronic pain, and alcohol use, he never sought help.

“I was masking it by pretending that I was helping others instead of helping myself,” said Beheler.

Then, an anonymous donor stepped in to send Beheler to one of the nation’s only veteran-focused TBI programs at Resiliency Brain Health in Coppell.

On the surface, it’s a clinic that could be mistaken for a physical therapy center. But there, doctors focus on the mind, introducing multiple stimuli to retrain the brain to handle everything life throws its way.

Since opening the clinic after suffering her own TBI, Dr. Charlene Gaudet and her staff have treated about 200 veterans through a special 10-day program funded by nonprofit partnerships.

It’s an intensive, which Gaudet said focuses on the brain’s neuroplasticity, healing in the same way it first grew.

“When you’re a child, and you’re learning to walk, a baby’s going to stand and fall and stand and fall and stand and fall. And they might do that for weeks. And then one day, they actually take three steps,” said Gaudet. “And then the next day it’s six steps, and then the next day it’s 10 steps. It doesn’t matter what age you are, your brain can learn something new.”

It’s a belief that’s gifted veterans like Beheler a fresh start.

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“We’ve had young men and women graduate from college after going through the program, something they didn’t think they could do. We’ve had men and women find a job. Now they’re working. They’re supporting their families. They’re thriving. And then there are the ones who go back into helping others,” she said.

Today, Beheler is 70 days sober. He sleeps through the night, is training for a 5k, and succeeding in a job he once feared he’d lose.

“Dr. G said it the best. You know, they gave me my life back. Ten days, are you kidding … 10 days,” he said.

Beheler’s also channeling new-found focus into helping other veterans enroll in Resiliency’s program.

“I want my other guys to do the same thing. I want them to light up the room. I want them to feel as good as I do,” said Beheler.

He now hopes to raise $75,000 for treatment at 50 for the Fallen’s 2024 kickoff, a goal he’d previously set for the entire season.

Behler also hopes to get more people talking about the symptoms he long ignored and why nonprofits like his feel siloed in getting veterans the help they need.

“Let’s get more people in there. Let’s get more veterans feeling great, better and let’s stop the suicide. No veteran should kill themselves because of lack of treatment. Are you kidding? Get out of here. I can’t abide,” said Beheler.

50 for the Fallen’s 2024 season kicks off in Austin on April 6. More information can be found on their site.