Vietnam veteran Bill Mercurio of Machesney Park found solace volunteering for BraveHearts Therapeutic Riding and Educational Center in Harvard following the death of his 28-year-old son, Andrew, in 2017. Mercurio has since become a trainer and part of BraveHearts staff as its veterans relations coordinator. (Courtesy of BraveHearts)
Vietnam War veteran Bill Mercurio joked that before he first encountered the BraveHearts Therapeutic Riding and Educational Center in Harvard in 2015, the only riding he had done previously was on Chicago’s elevated trains.
Unlike his wife, Nancy, Mercurio had no previous experience around horses. But the Machesney Park resident was intrigued by the nonprofit BraveHearts and its mission since 2007 to offer “equine services to provide emotional, cognitive, social and physical benefits for veterans” at no cost to them.
“When you spend time with horses, you discover that they’re calming and relaxing,” said Mercurio, who started volunteering and riding regularly with BraveHearts in 2016. “Horses are in the moment, and you can lose a lot of anxiety around them.”
“Some people you always remember meeting for the first time, and Bill is one of those people,” said BraveHearts president and chief operating officer Meggan Hill-McQueeney. “He has so much kindness and wisdom and he just has a real heart to serve and he really folded in perfectly with our organization.”
The Mercurios’ time with BraveHearts was critical to their grieving process in 2017 when their 28-year-old son, Andrew, died from a fentanyl overdose. They credit their faith and spending time with the horses to help them through.
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