Run to Home Base: Fenway Park event supports veterans

(NECN) - In 2009, Massachusetts General Hospital joined with the Red Sox Foundation to create the home base program. The goal is to support injured war veterans and their families after they return home from service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In just two years, the Run to Home Base event at Fenway Park has helped raise 5 million dollars for the program, and they are hoping to raise more this year.

We are joined by Dr. Naomi Simon, chief medical officer of the home base program at MGA, and Sgt. Chris Lessard, an 8-year marine veteran.

The event is Sunday,  May 20 at Fenway Park.

“This is a joint effort between the Red Sox Foundation and the Massachusetts General Hospital coming together to take care of our nation’s heroes: veterans and their families who have really served us in multiple deployments and come back and they really deserve our care so we’ve developed a program focusing on their needs,” says Dr. Simon.

PTSD is the focus, and the MGH program looks for the “invisible signs” of trouble.

“It was hard to identify what was going on. I was becoming really short tempered. I was getting anxiety,” says Lessard of his return to the states. “I got the help and everything has been great since then.”

Lessard says the event tries to reduce the stigma and get help for everyone who needs it.

“I think the home base program has done a great job educating families. I think this is key and one of the things that needs to happen for someone suffering from PTSD,” says Lessard.

He says the key is family support, which he thinks the home base program does a great job with.