There are open books, and then there is Jayme Turner.
The retired Army Combat Medic is a refreshing storyteller who is willing to answer every question in as much detail as necessary.
“If me being straight up and brutally honest telling the world what I’ve been through, if it helps people understand that they’re not in uncommon situations … ” Turner said. “If I can go through that and still have hope in my life, it can work for other people. It’s important for people to know the truth.”
Turner, 47, is a PGA HOPE Ambassador who represents the Utah PGA Section. He begins this conversation talking about his background, where he grew up and how he ended up in the military, which resulted in three combat tours in Iraq. All of it wildly fascinating.
Three years ago, Turner was at the Veterans Affairs clinic in St. George, Utah – where he’s an Intermediate Care Technician (ICT) – and he saw a flier about the PGA HOPE program at Southgate Golf Course. He was asked to recruit Veterans to attend. But Turner didn’t feel right about asking Veterans to do something that he hadn’t done himself.
“I picked my clubs back up again,” Turner said. “After I went through it, it was the first time in a decade that I felt alive. I didn’t have any hobbies. I didn’t want to be social. I was isolated for pretty much a decade.
“PGA HOPE totally changed my life.”
Click here to read the complete feature published April 17 on PGA.Com by Jay Coffin.