It was the tragedy of losing a close friend to suicide brought on by post-traumatic stress disorder and war injuries that led Russell Davies of Pocatello to start a nonprofit company to make a difference.

What Davies and his close friends chose to do was help fellow veterans cope by engaging in outdoor sports, such as kayaking, rock climbing, mountain biking, skiing and snowboarding. The company, Professional Transformation Sports Development (PTSD) takes in veterans with personal demons gathered in military service and helps them reintegrate back into civilian life. Many of the veterans have major injuries.

Davis has also been in a movie made by documentary filmmaker Seth Dahl. The 20-minute film, “The Long River Home,” is on this year’s Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour and will be shown Jan. 24 in Idaho Falls. The film features Davies and two other disabled veterans kayaking 14 days down the Colorado River’s Grand Canyon. The movie was produced by professional climber Timmy O’Neill and sponsored by Clif Bar.

“Lonnie (Bedwell) is entirely blind. Aaron (Howell) lost both of his legs and a majority of his hands, I was blown up in Afghanistan and got some shrapnel, a traumatic brain injury and compressed my spine,” Davis said of the people featured in the film. “So it’s about us coming together with the one common goal of us getting on the water and how it’s healing and how we work together. It’s an incredible film for sure. It teaches you how to work through life’s difficulties.”

Davies said he will be in Idaho Falls for the Banff Film Festival to introduce “The Long River Home” film and have a display in the lobby at the Colonial Theater on his 4-year-old company.

Davies said his company takes a few dozen veterans into the outdoors of Idaho for two weeks at a time on an all-expenses paid learning experience. Generous donors, and volunteers make the program work. Ages of vets who have participated range from 22 to 57.

“We take them from knowing nothing to being fully knowledgeable about their chosen sport at the end of those two weeks,” he said. “We donate them all of their gear. For example, the kayaker leaves with a kayak, life jacket, paddle, helmet, everything essential and the knowledge and tools to pursue their new-found passion. This helps them deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.”

He said the results have been inspiring and what they’ve hoped for.

“One of our guys was the oldest participant at 57,” Davies said. “We were a little concerned with that. He was definitely in an extremely hard place when he got here. He will tell you 100 percent that the program saved his life. He was on his way to taking it himself. We have letters from his daughters and his wife thanking us. ‘You changed my husband so drastically that it’s unreal,’ she wrote us. Now he’s competing on a national level in downhill mountain bike races across the U.S. and he’s got his whole family into it. We’ve had dozens and dozens of people with that same outlook. It’s been incredibly rewarding.”

Davies said he hopes “The Long River Home,” will serve to encourage people to help support his company and others financially. His main supporter is R&G Potatoes out of American Falls. He also receives gear donations from manufacturers and free time at area ski resorts. Costs average $5,000 per vet and about $50,000 per two-week class.

Finding veterans to take the courses hasn’t been a problem.

“That’s the largest factor that we’re facing now, the amount of veterans that we have registered to participate is about 50 to 60 veterans per year, and having about 1,000 veterans registered but are now on a waiting list,” Davies said. “We’re trying to expand as rapidly as possible.”

Professional Transformation Sports Development can be reached online at ptsdveteranathletes.com or by calling 208-406-8140.