26 ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL AUGUST 2019 | aksportingjournal.com
started with another brutal climb and
descent from a ridge while carrying lim-
ited water sources. And when they got
to the beach, they faced a swim over
raging waves crashing into the shore and
then a swim through the choppy waters
to reach their extraction point boat.
As crazy as it sounds the lesser con-
cern for Grimes was probably that bull
sharks inhabited the bottom of the sea.
Remember that her barely working left
shoulder makes it impossible to make a
typical swimming motion.
“The first time we’d gone out we tried
to get into it and it wasn’t happening. One
(wave) whitewashed me onto the bottom
of the ocean, and I knew there were bull
sharks down there. I am not that famil-
iar with ocean swimming,” Grimes says.
“We had to wait down there for about
five hours for the tide to go out enough
that the waves weren’t so bad that you
couldn’t physically go into them.”
“By the time we finally got those
breakers past the reef, my arm was just
shot. I couldn’t move it anymore and
the nerves were too inflamed. I was do-
ing the one-armed dog paddle.”
But she made it. And nothing felt
sweeter than exchanging hugs and
high-fives with Hart, devouring the wa-
termelon and cantaloupe the producers
brought for them, a much-needed mealof chicken enchiladas, and the extra day
she spent drinking beers and bonding
with the local villagers.
“I was proud of myself for accomplish-
ing it on and not letting that stuff crush
me or beat me. It was something I needed
to do and I did it,” she says. “I love chal-
lenges and it was an epic challenge. It
tested everything – physical, mental, spir-
itual. It was an incredible inexperience.”
A couple years after Grimes felt like
her life had no purpose, 21 days on a
television show she’d never heard of
would change everything. And then the
phone rang again.NAKED AND AFRAID CHANGED Grimes’
life. After her episode aired, she was
contacted by a representative from The
Wounded Blue, which helps brother
and sister law enforcement officers in-
jured or traumatized on the job.
“He said, ‘You’re an injured officer.
We’re an organization that’s for you.
That’s what we do. We help wounded
officers. It’s like a lifeline,’” Grimes says.
“They were interested in having me as
one of their peer support counselors.
I’m like, ‘Holy crap! That would be fan-
tastic! I’d love to do that.’”
The plan is for Grimes to train for
her position this fall, then become The
Wounded Blue’s Alaska representativeGwen and Nate are starting their own nonprofit organization to help wounded
warriors and law enforcement officers, Wyldwoodz Wilderness Retreat. She’ll also
train to counsel injured law enforcement officers through a national organization
known as The Wounded Blue. (GWEN GRIMES)