SAN ANTONIO -- It's no secret that sports can change lives and boost rehabilitation efforts, which is why a group of Texas veterans is benefiting from an adaptive cycling camp.

From enhancing physical health to healing emotional scars, sports have the power to change lives.

James Madison is a veteran and a firefighter.

"I was in a job where firefighters are the manly men. Whenever there was danger, I was the one who was called. I went to all of a sudden being in a wheelchair," Madison said. 

His emotional scars were about just as big as his physical ones until he began cycling. A few years later he is thriving and getting ready for his second adaptive cycling camp.

The South Texas VA is hosting a three-day camp to help wounded service members get back on the road.

"I have guys come to my unit that don't want to come out of their rooms, they don't want to talk to anybody, they don't want to socialize, and you get them out on the bike and you start to see those changes happen," said recreation therapist Mary Phillips.

Madison said it's not as easy as it might look, but he said since he's been doing it, his mental, emotional, and physical health have skyrocketed.

"My PTSD is much more manageable. When you get really pent up, full of anger, rather than just sitting there stewing, I hop on this thing and I go pedal 30 or 40 miles. It gets it all out," he said.

Three years ago Madison didn't see himself cycling, or even being alive.

"I honestly questioned whether I'd hit age 62," he said.

For more information: https://www.southtexas.va.gov/