The recent 2024 Hometown Heroes charity motorcycle event in St. Johns County raised about $63,000, portions of which will help an Army veteran rebuild his life after a training accident left him paralyzed from the waist down.

About $20,000 will be used for scholarships at HorsePlay Therapy’s RiseUp program, which has provided assisted equine therapy for retired Staff. Sgt. Karlton Berry and other veterans. Another $18,000 of the proceeds will be used to make the bedroom and bathroom of Berry’s St. Augustine home wheelchair-accessible and to provide therapeutic devices.

“Karlton’s story is one that continues to inspire me,” said ride organizer Mike Minter, a senior builder with MasterCraft Builder Group, one of the event sponsors. “We’ve seen him change and grow into someone full of life and hope, and that’s what this is all about.”

The remaining funds will pay for wheelchair ramps and other accessibility needs of first responders and military veterans injured on or off the job.

Berry, a signals intelligence analyst, fell from a 40-foot tower during a training exercise. He withdrew from life.

“It kind of hit me real hard. I didn’t want to talk to anybody, I didn’t want to be around anybody,” he said in a video for the ride and RiseUp.

Equine therapy, he said, “has helped me a lot.”

“I don’t have to have that weight on my shoulders. It’s OK to ask for help,” he said. “It gave me a confidence boost and a connection with nature again.”

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About 320 riders participated in this year’s Hometown Heroes Ride, which was sponsored by the Veteran Enforcers Motorcycle Association St. Johns County Chapter, Adamec Harley-Davidson of St. Augustine and Northeast Florida Builders Association’s Builders Care.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: St. Johns motorcycle ride helps paralyzed Army retiree, other veterans