Extra Rounds podcast: Lex McMahon and Stefan Struve talk about AHERO USA
By Staff
Titan FC exec Lex McMahon and UFC heavyweight Stefan Struve join the Extra Rounds podcast to talk about their work with AHERO USA.
This week on the Extra Rounds podcast, Mike Dyce and Elias Cepeda talked to Titan FC exec Lex McMahon and UFC heavyweight Stefan Struve about their work with AHERO USA and the “Warrior Hookup” event. The goal of the Warrior Hookup event is to get veterans of the armed services together for a bonding experience and to offer one another support.
McMahon specifically cites the harrowing tale of AHERO founder Lee Stuckey on the brink of suicide before a bit of divine intervention in the form of a phone call from his mother. He returned home and began fishing with fellow veterans.
“He spent time hunting and going fishing, but he did that with veterans that lived in the area, and that experience was really cathartic to him,” McMahon said. “He thought, wait a minute, ‘I’m a Marine Corps captain’ – he was at the time – and I’m having all these issues, and this type of treatment for a lack of better terms, therapy, was really helpful to me, maybe it would be helpful to other people.”
McMahon added: “The premise of what we do, is we take guys that are similarly situated and put them in a really fun environment, and try to facilitate peer-to-peer therapy.”
People wanting to support AHERO’s work with military veterans can donate at their website.
The most recent event was in late July and was a fishing trip off the coast of Florida. UFC heavyweight Stefan Struve joined the trip and talked about his experiences as well.
“I’ve never done anything like that before, like taking the guys out from the military,” Struve said. “It was a great experience. It was great just to hangout with them during those four days, just have a great time and give back a little. I’m really hoping I get to do more of that in the future.
Struve added: “I told them I’m nobody special, I can fight a bit, but I’m here to hangout with you guys and just have a great time and enjoy your guys’ company. It worked out really well and I think the guys got a lot out of it.”