It was one vision in between endless nightmares that inspired a former United States Marine Corps sergeant.
Half a decade in the military and a bloody war in Iraq left 35-year-old Ian Michael mentally scarred, the worst of his wounds invisible.
Michael said he would often wake up covered in sweat after images of combat invaded his head. Post-traumatic stress disorder ensured each night went the same.
“I knew they were dreams, but I woke up f----d up in my head,” Michael said.
One night in 2014, Michael found a moment of peace.
He dreamt of riding a bicycle across the country, giving hugs to strangers he passed.
“Oh my god — I was so happy,” he said.
Since January 2015, Michael has ridden his bicycle about 2,500 miles to 12 Veterans Affairs Hospitals. Once inside, he carries signs that read “Free Hugs.”
Marine veteran Sgt. Gino Greganti and his wife, Erin Greganti, joined Michael on the voyage. On Friday, after bicycling from Panama City on April 12, the group visited Gainesville’s Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center and then continued their journey south. The last stop will be Miami before the group, dubbed the Human Hug Project, returns to Nashville, Tennessee.
For Gino Greganti, who served in Afghanistan for about eight years, it was a social worker’s hug that changed his outlook on life.
After three hours in the emergency room and a discussion with an on-call psychiatrist, Gino Greganti met with the social worker.
“I’m not supposed to do this, but you look like you could use a hug,” the woman said.
Gino Greganti said the hug broke down a wall he had built to isolate himself after the war.
“It turned on a light inside of me,” he said.
Then, in April 2015, Gino Greganti reconnected with his old friend Michael after 10 years of separation.
They met in Tennessee and decided they would ride their bikes around the country, hugging veterans and resting in the team’s Jeep when needed.
The group has spent about $25,000 of its own money to fund the trips, but it has received about $20,000 in donations.
The project, Gino Greganti said, is an act of kindness meant to change the way people think about interacting with one another.
“What we’ve experienced on this journey is humanity,” he said.
@martindvassolo
mvassolo@alligator.org
